A Dish Best Served Cold
by LemonSupreme
Summary: Bass and Charlie have both had it with Rachel. This unlikely duo bonds over drinks and shared grievances. As a new friendship evolves they come up with a way to get even with the woman who drives them both crazy. Revenge can be sweet, but sometimes there is something even sweeter waiting just beyond it. Charloe.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: My intention had been for this to be kind of angsty and dark, but evidently I'm incapable of angsty and dark. It is about revenge… a little. More than that, it's about a blossoming friendship between two people who bond over whiskey… a shared love for one person… a shared hatred for another. Charloe, obviously. :)**

Bass is knocking back a glass of whiskey at the little Willoughby bar where he goes when he wants to drink and wants to be left alone. He's glowering into the bottle that sits in front of him. He wants to get drunk, but he's not even close yet. He pours another glass.

"What's wrong with you?" Charlie asks, plopping down on the bar stool next to him. She motions for the guy behind the bar to bring her a bottle as well, tossing some diamonds his way as payment.

"Nothing. Why are you here?"

"Don't be such a dick, Monroe. You aren't the only person who wants a drink after a shitty day."

Bass notices that Charlie sounds as pissed as he is. He looks at her closely, noticing her eyes are puffy and there are red tear stains on her cheeks. Shit. He sighs loudly. "Okay. Why is your day shitty?"

She glares at him. "It's my birthday."

"Aren't you a little young to be freaking out about your birthday?" he asks.

"I'm not freaking out about my birthday. My Mom pissed me off. It's not really about my birthday at all."

"Oh." Bass understands how Rachel can make anyone's day shitty – maybe more than anyone else does; but he never knows how much he can talk to Charlie about that. "Well happy birthday Charlie."

"Thanks." She chokes out before standing up, grabbing her bottle and bolting for the door. Clearly she's crying again.

"Fuck." He mutters.

He should just sit here and be thankful he's alone again.

He should just sit here and drink in peace.

He should just sit here.

He stands, grabbing his own bottle before following her out the door. "Fuck."

She's moving fast and he just barely catches a glimpse of her as she rounds the street corner. He jogs to catch up, not even sure why he's compelled to follow. He slows when he sees she's reached her destination – an old overgrown playground behind what once was the elementary school. She sits on a swing, facing away from him. He walks her way slowly, watching as she opens her bottle and takes a long drink.

He settles into the swing beside hers. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not to you."

"Well, I'm the only one here." Bass is frustrated. He wants to help but damn if she isn't making it difficult. He decides he's going back to the bar. He stands and has walked a couple steps in that direction when he hears her speak again. Turning, he goes back and settles into the swing he'd just left.

"I think I hate her. I don't just dislike her. I hate her." She sounds tired.

"Oh." Bass feels wildly uncomfortable suddenly. Nobody hates Rachel more than he does, but he's caused enough strife to Charlie's family. He doesn't want to add to whatever this is.

"It's okay. I know you hate her too." Charlie sniffs a little and takes another drink.

"Why do you think YOU hate her?" he asks, not bothering to comment on his own feelings in this matter.

"Well, like I said – it's my birthday. I knew she wouldn't remember. She never does. Probably because she left after I'd only had eight of them and that was a long time ago." Bitterness drips from every word. "Anyway, Miles remembered. He brought me a bouquet of daisies this morning, told me happy birthday. It was sweet."

"Miles always did like birthdays."

She nods a little, "Anyway I was in a great mood. It was a nice way to start the day. I went over to their house to say thanks one more time and of course she was there. They were talking and didn't hear me come up and I overheard them." Charlie stops talking, staring blankly across the playground.

"So, what did you hear?" he prods her out of her reverie.

Charlie takes another swig from her bottle before diving in, "Miles was reminding her it was my birthday, and she said she knew, but that I didn't like my birthday and she didn't want to make a big deal out of nothing. Miles was surprised and said he was pretty sure I liked my birthday just fine. Then she started talking about Danny and how much she loved celebrating his birthday. She went on and on about the different parties she threw for him when he was little. Miles asked what kind of parties she threw for me. She said I didn't like my birthdays even when I was little. She didn't really remember any parties. Miles was kind of shocked and said something like 'what little kid doesn't like birthdays?' and she got all defensive and said she was busy with work and had to focus on Danny."

He can tell the story isn't over, but he already gets it. No wonder she's pissed.

"I always knew she loved him more. She wasn't mean to me or anything, but most of the time it was like I wasn't there. I didn't remember about the parties though until I heard them talking. It was all so long ago, you know?" She glances quickly at Bass before barreling on, "When I was six I wanted a party. All my friends got to have parties and I told her I wanted one. I wanted a Hello Kitty party. I asked every day for a month. Mom finally said fine. They'd throw me a party. You know what kind of party I got?"

Bass shakes his head, a sinking feeling in his gut.

"Power Rangers because that's what Danny liked and she didn't want him to feel left out." Charlie takes another deep drink. "I never asked for another one. I guess that's why she thinks I don't care."

"I don't know what to say." He frowns, taking a sip from his own bottle.

"You don't have to say anything. This isn't new. I'm just tired of it. I loved Danny too but he's been gone for a long time. I thought eventually she'd act more like a Mom to me. I don't think that's ever going to happen. I'm done. He's dead and he still gets all her attention - even on my birthday."

He can't defend Rachel. To Bass, this is just another example of what a soulless bitch she is. He bites his lip to hold back comments that would not be helpful. Instead of saying what's really on his mind, he changes the subject. "How old are you anyway?"

"Twenty-three." She answers. Looking at him curiously. "How old are you?"

"Um," he hesitates.

"You don't remember?" She's smirking a little, and he's glad to see the tears are gone. "Old age must suck. They say the memory is the first thing to go."

He frowns. "I know perfectly well how old I am."

"Well?" she asks.

"Forty-five." He shrugs, not meeting her gaze. When she doesn't say anything, he glances back at her. She's appraising him carefully, looking him up and down. He starts to feel uncomfortable again. "What?" he asks.

"Forty-five looks good on you I guess." She chuckles, taking another drink. "When is your birthday?"

"Couple months from now."

"So in a couple months you'll be twice as old as I am. That seems kind of weird."

"Tell me about it." He mutters. Bass barely remembers being twenty-three. That was a life time ago. It's hard for him to imagine that he was about her age when she was born.

"So why were you in a bad mood? Nobody forgot your birthday."

He doesn't say anything for a while, just sways softly in the swing. "Your Mom."

"Damn. She's just a ray of sunshine today."

"Not today. Every day. You're mad at her. You'll get over it. I really do hate her Charlie." He looks down at his bottle before tilting it up and taking a sip.

"But something must have set you off today. What was it?"

Bass sighs, "Miles and I were supposed to make a trip to Hannibal next month to meet with the new Plains Nation president. It was going to be like an ambassador trip for Texas. We've been making plans for weeks, working out all the details with Blanchard's office. I was looking forward to some time with my best friend. We've been doing a lot better ever since we kidnapped the Patriot President, you know?"

Charlie nods. "So what happened? Not going now?"

"Your Mom pitched a fit. Said if I went along she was coming too. Said we can't be trusted together. We all got into a big screaming match. Finally Miles agreed to go without me. He always picks her over me."

"And she always picks Danny over me."

They sit in silence for a while; both feeling dejected by the people who are supposed to love them the most. After a long time, Charlie looks at Bass, "So, are we like friends now?"

"Me and you?"

"There's nobody else here." She says with a shrug.

"Yeah, I guess so. Unless you still want to kill me. That would be a deal breaker on my end." He smiles a little, but is truly curious where Charlie's head is on that subject.

"I haven't wanted to kill you since Texas did it. The universe gave you a second chance. I figured I'd give you one too. Don't see that changing anytime soon." Charlie takes another sip.

"Then yeah, I guess we're friends."

Charlie stands, swaying just a little. "I think that's good. I can use a friend right now." She looks really sad and he doesn't know what to say to help.

He stands too, and pulls her into a hug. "We all can." He says quietly against her hair. After he feels that she's calmer, he pulls back and looks at her. "You okay? I'll walk you home."

"I'm fine, and thanks. That would be nice."

They walk in silence. Bass leaves her at the door of her small house. Charlie watches as he walks away. She feels like something has shifted under her feet. The world is tilted a little. It feels like a good tilt. She has a friend who gets her, even if he is old. Charlie lets her gaze dip to his retreating ass. Hmmm, he doesn't really look all that old. She chuckles, feeling the full effect of all the whiskey she's drank tonight. She would never admit it out loud, but if she's honest with herself, she's always thought Monroe was pretty sexy. She wonders what he thinks of her. Probably just thinks she's a kid. That's okay. As long as they can be friends it's good enough. Good enough for now anyway.

They started out as enemies. Now they are friends. Someday, who knows? Right now, she's just glad to have made it through the day without falling totally apart.

"Happy birthday to me." Charlie says as she falls into bed, asleep before her head hits the pillow.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A pattern develops as these two unlikely friends find common ground in their taste in whiskey, their love of Miles, and their hatred of Rachel. At first they pretend to be surprised when they bump into each other at the same bar at the same time every evening. After a couple weeks have passed, all pretenses are gone. They are officially drinking buddies now.

"You're late. Everything okay?" Bass asks as Charlie slides into her usual bar stool.

She shrugs. "How are you?"

"Not so good. Gonna be homeless by the end of the week thanks to your bitch mom." He's pissed. She can tell, but he's mostly keeping it in – trying to control his temper. Charlie is honestly not sure if this is healthy or not.

"How does she have any impact on your living situation?"

"She's having my trailer condemned. She went to the new city council. They had a meeting and everything. I got my notice today." He's frowning as he takes a drink.

Charlie tries to hold it back, but she just can't. A loud bark of laughter erupts.

"It's not funny." He growls.

"Oh come on. Your place is awful. I think this one time, I agree with Rachel." She shakes her head, still laughing.

"It was good enough. I've been there for six months. Never had a problem."

"Except for the rats you mentioned the other day? And the leaky roof when it rained?"

"I'm not telling you shit anymore. You don't get to use stuff I tell you against me. That's breaking some kind of friend code." Bass's frown fades. Charlie's smile is contagious.

"So where will you stay? Are there any available park benches on Main Street?" Now Charlie's laughing so hard, tears have sprung up in her eyes. He joins in.

When they are calm, they both take drinks from their bottles and share a comfortable silence. Finally he answers. "I don't know. Usually I'd crash with Miles, but obviously now that he lives with her, that's not going to happen. And now that things around here are finally coming around, I can't just squat in an empty house. Sometimes getting civilization back sucks."

"You can stay with me. I have a couch that you are welcome to." Charlie takes a big drink. She does not meet his eyes.

"You serious?" Bass asks.

"Yeah. As long as you don't bring the damn rats with you and you have to promise to clean up after yourself. I won't live in a pigsty and I'm nobody's maid."

"Okay." He says, watching to see her reaction.

She turns to him and grins. "All right then. We'll be roommates."

"Man, your Mom is going to hate this." He can't help but smirk a little as he thinks about what an understatement that truly is.

"She's going to think we're shacking up." Charlie chuckles. "It will kill her."

"This will make me sound like a jerk, but I am okay with that. Maybe not as much fun as actually killing her, but it's close enough." Bass smiles.

"It will be fun to watch her squirm. Revenge is a dish best served cold. She won't see this coming." Charlie takes a big drink.

"Revenge, huh?"

"Yeah. I think she's done enough. Time to have some payback."

Bass looks at her questioningly, "And us pretending to shack up is revenge enough for you?"

"Well, it will be the biggest bang for our buck." Charlie grins as she takes another drink. "Seriously this will be fun. But I can't figure it out. Why did she bother with getting your place condemned in the first place? Wasn't living there enough punishment for you?"

"Oh shut up." He's shoves her shoulder playfully.

"Really though, she hates you so much. Why is that?" Charlie is watching Bass, as if the answers are written somewhere on his face. "It's not just the Danny and Dad stuff either. It's deeper than that. It's personal." She watches him, but he doesn't respond or look her way. She continues, "It feels almost," she hesitates. He is raising his bottle to his lips when she finally finishes her thought, "intimate."

Bass freezes. He recovers but not before Charlie sees the truth in his expression.

"Oh noooo." she says, her voice dripping with disgust. "You slept with her!"

He closes his eyes. Damnit. There goes his new living arrangement. When Charlie doesn't say anything more, he looks up and meets her gaze. The expression on her face is a perfect mix of disgust and morbid curiosity.

"WHY?" she asks. "Why would you do that?" Charlie shudders visibly, clearly as disturbed by the thought as he is by the memory.

"It was a long time ago. She was not with your Dad or Miles. It was just once. It was a mistake."

"Obviously." She is shaking her head, still staring in disbelief. Then her expression changes to thoughtfulness. "Not with my Dad or Miles and it was a long time ago?" she tilts her head curiously.

"So?" He wishes the floor would just open up and swallow him whole. This is the single most humiliating conversation he's ever had.

"OH." She's come to some realization.

"What?" he asks frowning.

"It was when you had her locked up, wasn't' it?" her eyes are wide. "Monroe, you didn't make her sleep with you, did you?"

"Jesus Charlie!" He stands, grabbing his bottle. He's done with this conversation.

She is following him in the time it takes her to grab her own bottle. He has a long stride and she almost has to jog to keep up. "Well?" she asks, a little breathless. "Did you force her?"

He comes to an abrupt stop. "No. Shit. Of course I didn't force her. What the hell?" he runs a hand through his curls. "You don't want to know the details, but trust me I didn't force her to do anything." They start to walk side by side. The pace is normal now. Their destination is the park. It's now where they end up almost every night. She doesn't say anything. The silence feels heavy, so he continues, "Listen I know you'll be surprised by this but some women – a lot of women actually - find me attractive. I've never in my life had to force a woman to do anything. Ever."

He doesn't even notice that she's stopped at first. When he does, he turns back. "What?"

"What do you mean by that?" Charlie is looking at him strangely. "The part about me being surprised?"

He shrugs, "I know you think I'm old, but I'm not that damn old Charlie. Jesus." He starts walking again. He stops when he hears her laugh.

"What now?" he yells out frustrated.

"I don't think you are old Monroe. I do think you are stupid, but not old." She turns away toward her street, still laughing. "Bring your stuff tomorrow. We'll get you settled in."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Charlie's house is small which suits her just fine. It sits just across the street from Miles and Rachel's larger place. They'd picked these residences at first because at that time Charlie was still spending a lot of time with her Uncle and Mom and it seemed convenient. These days she's too busy working as an archery and survivalist teacher at Aaron's school. That or leading hunting parties, or drinking with Monroe. She doesn't visit the house across the street often anymore. Lately she kind of forgets how close they are.

Monroe doesn't have much to move in. He rides up on a borrowed wagon, unloads three boxes and a big duffel bag. Then he takes the wagon back and returns on foot. By the time he gets back to the house, Charlie has already brought an old dresser from a back closet into the living room. It sits next to the couch which will be his new bed. She's piled up a couple sheets, a pillow and a blanket on one end of the couch.

"I don't use this room for anything. Not like I sit around watching tv. So it will just be your room." She shrugs. "Sound okay to you?"

"Yep." He smiles at his new space. This is definitely a step up from the trailer. He won't admit it to Charlie but she'd been right. That place really was awful. Rachel did him a favor this time, even though he's sure that was far from her intent.

"Now we can just drink here at the house. No need to go to the bar." She smiles at him and leaves the house to go to work. He unpacks; stowing his belongings in the drawers or on the mostly empty book shelf that sits along one wall.

After he's settled, he takes a little tour. The kitchen is tiny. There is an old green Formica topped table with three chairs that don't match. He moves down the little hallway. There is a bathroom. Miles has rigged up some basic plumbing for Charlie. There is no running water, but the drains work so water can be brought in from outside for baths. The last room is behind a closed door. It has to be Charlie's room. The closed door probably means he's supposed to stay out, but his curiosity gets the best of him and he opens the door. Bass isn't sure exactly what he had expected, but it isn't this. Where the rest of this little house is filled with cast offs and mis-matched everything; Charlie's room is something else entirely. There is an old iron bed, which upon close inspection has been carefully sanded and polished. The bedding is crisp and white. On either side of her bed are short wooden tables. Each is topped by a single white candle on a small porcelain plate. She has a worn but beautiful antique armoire that is carefully filled with an assortment of tanks and jeans.

He sits on the bed, and looks around. He imagines Charlie in this space and the image is strangely comforting. He can see why she'd want to keep this to herself. It's an oasis. He accidently knocks over a stack of books sitting on the floor by the side of the bed that must be 'her' side. Bass didn't know she was a reader, but he picks them up and thumbs through the titles to see what she likes. _Great Expectations_ by Dickens; _Slaughterhouse Five_ by Vonnegut; _East of Eden_ by Steinbeck; an ee Cummings book of poetry; and _Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ by Adams. Bass is impressed. This is a pretty great little collection. He's not a big poetry fan, but he's read and enjoyed all of the fiction she has here. He sits the books back on the floor, but they fall over again, so he bends to straighten them back up. That's when he notices another book that has fallen under her bed. He grasps the slim volume and grins when he sees the title. So Charlie isn't quite as obsessed with the classics as he'd first assumed. He never read _Fifty Shades of Grey_ but he remembers dating a girl before the blackout that wanted to try everything in all three of the books. He'd been only too happy to oblige.

He is sitting on Charlie's bed, holding her naughty book in his hands and Bass feels a stirring. It's not new. In fact lately, it's become pretty damn common. Shit. Everything is going so well. He's really enjoying this new friendship he has with Charlie and she's even welcomed him into her home. He can't screw it up by lusting after her, not that she'd be interested anyway. Bass sighs, then carefully puts the book back under the bed where he'd found it and leaves her room, closing the door behind him.

**Author's Note: Let me know what you think so far. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note (Revised Chap): So... **hangs head in fanfiction shame** I have made some corrections based on the very awesome and supportive feedback provided via reviews and pms. You guys seriously rock. I adore constructive criticism. Keep it coming. :)**

"Here" Charlie says. It's the morning after Bass has moved in and she's just emerged from her room. She looks sexy as hell, though he's not going to tell her that. She's wearing jeans and a tiny white tee shirt. He looks down at what she's tossed on the couch next to him, and he chuckles.

"Uh, why are you giving me this?" he lifts the thin book as if to remind her of what she's just now given him. It's the copy of _Fifty Shades of Grey_ that he'd seen under her bed yesterday.

"I know you were in my room looking at it. Figured you must be hard up. Just trying to help out." She sneers at him a little, clearly pleased with herself.

He acts shocked, "I don't know what you are talking about Charlie…" he trails off when she leans in close.

"I know you were in there Monroe. I am kind of weird about my things. I always know when they've been touched." Her breath is hot on his cheek. His mind can't help but flash to which of her things he wants to touch. It isn't this book, that's for damn sure.

"Maybe it was someone else, and what the hell do you mean I'm hard up?"

"I know you were there." She stands straight again, walking into the kitchen. She comes back a moment later with an apple. Charlie takes a big bite, and chews it while she watches. After swallowing it down, she continues, "I know that you looked in my little closet and that you sat on the side of my bed and looked at my books. I know that you tried to stack them back up but they fell over and I know that when you were fixing them, you noticed that other book under my bed."

"And you know that was all me, how?"

Charlie grins. Her eyes are twinkling and her dimple flashes. "I knew you would go in there as soon as I closed the door and left. And I knew where everything was and just exactly how open the door to my closet had been. And I saw the tracks in the dust that showed the books had fallen over twice." She pauses, and her smile fades somewhat, "And I know your smell."

Bass laughs but there is little mirth there. The room is suddenly rife with unresolved tension, "And you think I'm the one who's hard up? Seems like you are the one who needs something you aren't getting. Most people wouldn't even have the time to notice all that stuff." He stands and moves close to her. Now he's the one with the advantage, wielding the upper hand. Her smile fades as he talks. "Oh and you know my smell, huh? I think that is…" he pauses to move a long strand of hair behind her ear, "interesting."

Charlie steps back from Monroe, "Don't go in my room again." She says simply.

Bass shrugs as she turns to walk away. He watches her and sees her back stiffen when he speaks, "I'll stay out Charlie. I'll stay out right up till you ask me to come in."

She doesn't answer. The door closes quietly behind her as she leaves the house.

Bass lets out a deep breath. When they are drinking everything between them is light and funny. When they aren't drinking, the intensity is palpable. He finds that he likes both ways with her. Maybe someday they'll find a happy medium. Maybe. For now, he needs a drink. Then he remembers what day it is and curses. No drinks for him. He has a job interview today. Shit.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When your prior work experience is dominated by time spent in the Marines, and years serving as President of a not so well-ran nation; the job offers do not just fall into your lap.

If it weren't for Miles, the thing today wouldn't have even come up. Bass is supposed to meet with Blanchard about a government job. Why the hell he's even temped to rejoin that particular circle of hell, he's not even sure.

But it seems the Texas people have decided to up their Bass Monroe ante. He'd been pardoned after Davis was arrested, and Bass' involvement in the plan was brought to life. Bass had then helped Blanchard in a few small ways since, but nothing major.

Now he has been offered an opportunity to apply for a job as Blanchard's right hand man. Retirement had been nice, but the old Texan had decided he really did miss the action of his former life. He'd dove back in with fervor and was now acting as the governor for Mid Texas. Since Willoughby was the Mid Texas Capitol, Blanchard was around a lot. He needed a local guy to keep an eye on things when he was out of town and to help him in general with whatever political fires needed to be put out. Blanchard liked Bass fine, but had been hesitant to approach him. Miles had worked his Miles magic and convinced the old pervert to give the younger man (who's kidding who? Also a pervert) a chance.

Bass dresses up or as close to it as he is capable. He wears new brown pants and a white button down over a white undershirt. He puts on freshly shined brown boots. He shrugs at the reflection in the mirror and smiles. He always did like looking nice. It's actually kind of great to have an excuse to put in some effort. Bass lets his mind wander for just a second to Charlie. He wonders what she'd think if she saw him like this? Probably nothing. He shakes his head. That girl gives off more mixed signals than a sane man can take.

Good thing sanity has never been one of his strong suits. He chuckles as the thought and lets himself out of Charlie's house. He heads toward town with a light heart. He's not sure why but he has a good feeling about this meeting. Maybe some good luck will finally come his way.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bass doesn't know that he's being watched as he walks down the street.

Rachel Matheson sees him exit her daughter's house. She's watching from behind a flowing white curtain, just out of sight. She's been watching ever since she first saw him pull up with the wagon and the boxes. She isn't sure what is going on between her daughter and Monroe, but whatever it is – Rachel doesn't like it at all.

She hasn't been sleeping. This problem across the street is making her more than a little bit crazy. Clearly this – whatever it is - will need to be handled, and Rachel knows it will be up to her to take care of it.

It's always up to her, and there is much work to be done.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Later, in town Charlie sees Bass as he exits the State Building.

Charlie has no idea why he's dressed up like he is, but dear God he is beautiful. He has found the perfect balance between the formality of his General days and the scruffy traveler look he's perfected over the past year: clean and sharply dressed but still with the beard and the dark caramel tan. Charlie's body hums with awareness.

She always has always thought Bass was attractive. She's always thought he was sexy, but this. Oh this. Charlie feels a hunger coiling in her core.

Charlie follows him for a bit before speeding up to match his stride. Falling into step beside him, she finally says, "Hello there."

He turns and smiles at her and Charlie's heart does a little flip. She smiles back. "You look nice. Hot date?" She hopes he's going to say no.

"The hottest." He says instead, his smile growing wider.

"Oh." She falters a bit before straightening her back and forging on. "That's nice."

Bass puts an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer as they walk along, "With my fake girlfriend. She's the jealous type so we probably shouldn't be seen together." He says with a wink.

Charlie blushes and smiles. "Fake girlfriends are the worst. What time is your date?"

Bass shrugs. "Dusk?"

She nods. "It's a fake date." She says with a smirk.

"See you then." He says as they move apart to go their separate ways.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Charlie gets done at work early. She goes straight to Aaron and Priscilla's house.

Priscilla opens the door with a smile. "Hi Charlie. This is a surprise."

"Hi," Charlie responds with a nervous smile. "I need a favor."

Priscilla tilts her head to the side curiously. "Well come on in."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bass makes his way back to the house with a big smile on his face. The interview had actually gone well. He won't know for sure for a few days, but he's got a really good feeling about his chances.

The sun is starting to set. Bass is excited to go home. The truth is he'd had three different women ask if he wanted to do something tonight. He'd said no to all three. He's been saying no a lot lately. Ever since he started drinking with Charlie, he isn't interested in spending time with anyone else.

Bass rounds the corner and stops short when he sees her. Charlie is sitting on the front porch on the top step. She's holding a bottle of whiskey that they will surely share. Everything about her is exactly what he'd expected to see, except for one thing.

Charlie Matheson is wearing a dress.

Damn. Bass forces himself to move again. He knows when she sees him because she sits a little straighter and she moves her hands to smooth out the soft yellow fabric of the skirt. She smiles at him shyly. Bass' heart lurches. She is simply beautiful.

"Hey." He says when he reaches the steps. "You look…" he runs a hand through his hair, "Really good."

"Thanks." She grins, flashing a dimple. "You look really good yourself."

He sits on the opposite side of the step she's on, and just watches her for a while. Eventually she hands him the bottle and he takes a drink before speaking, "So, I've never seen you in a dress before."

She frowns a little, looking down, "Is it too much? I borrowed it from Priscilla."

"It's not too much. You look amazing Charlie." His eyes are twinkling and she struggles to breathe evenly.

"So, our plan…." Charlie says – effectively changing the subject - before taking a drink from the bottle and handing it back to him.

"You mean _your_ plan where I'm your fake boyfriend and we are making your Mom mad… what about it?" He takes a drink before sitting the bottle between them on the top step.

"I was wondering if you think it's going to work."

"Why wouldn't it?" he looks at her curiously.

"Well, so far she hasn't even said anything, and she has to have noticed you are staying here. I was thinking maybe you aren't the only one hung up on our age difference."

Bass scowls. "I'm not hung up on anything."

"Yeah, you are. You are always pointing out how much older you are like it's a big deal. Maybe it hasn't occurred to her that we might even be a couple."

"Seems doubtful. I've dated women your age. I'm guessing she knows that."

"You have?" Charlie looks intrigued. "Interesting."

"See, I told you. You're the one who is hung up on my age. Not me."

She just looks at him, and then shakes her head. "The only way age would matter to me is if your equipment had stopped working."

"Equipment?" He takes another drink, looking at her blankly.

"Yeah, you know…" she motions toward his groin.

Bass chokes on his whiskey, sputtering out, "My equipment works just fine, thanks."

"Well, then why hasn't she taken the bait?"

"Well, we haven't really given her any bait yet Charlie. We just sit here drinking on the porch every night."

"So you think we should be giving her some kind of show?" Charlie's eyes are now twinkling with mischief.

Bass just shrugs. "It's your plan Charlie. You figure out what we need to do." He's acting like this is no big deal, but the thought of putting on any kind of show with Charlie is making him hard.

"Okay. I'm thinking."

Bass takes a drink, glancing across the street as he does so. "Maybe start thinking faster," he says quietly, "I'm pretty sure she's watching right now."

"Why do you say that?" Charlie asks.

"Well, I know Miles is out of town and I just saw the curtains move."

"So, she's over there watching us. What does she see?" Charlie asks with a thoughtful frown.

"I don't know. I guess right now she sees two people – two well dressed, good looking people - drinking."

Charlie nods, "Yeah, and that's not going to make her very mad. We need to show her something that will piss her off."

"What do you have in mind?" Bass asks carefully.

"Well, I think you're just going to have to pretend that I'm your girlfriend."

"Um, okay." Bass says, still uncertain what she wants from him.

"If I was your girlfriend, what would we be doing right now?"

"Hell, I don't know." He runs his hand through his hair nervously. That's not true. He knows exactly what he'd be doing to her. Not just sitting on the porch, that's for sure.

"Come on Monroe. Think! You're supposed to be this big ladies man. What would we be doing right now if we really were a couple? What would we be doing if this wasn't a fake date?"

"We'd be sitting closer I guess…"

"Yeah. That's good." She slides over so that her thigh is pressed against his. "What else?"

He feels his heartbeat accelerate. "I guess we'd be looking into each other's eyes, and maybe you'd be smiling up at me."

"Like this?" Charlie asks, flashing him her best grin.

"Yeah." Bass is having a hard time focusing. "And," he says, starting to get into this little game, "I'd probably do this." He reaches a hand to her cheek, rubbing a rough thumb along her jaw line.

Charlie's grin slowly evaporates. "Then what?"

"Well," Bass' voice is deeper suddenly, more raspy than usual. "Then I guess I'd probably kiss you."

"Then that's what you should do."

"You want me to kiss you?"

"Well, you know, for the sake of our plan… yeah." Charlie leans up and in, lifting a hand to stroke his beard.

Her eyes hold his.

"It's your plan." He whispers as he lowers his mouth to hers. He's thought about this a lot lately, about what it would be like to kiss Charlie for the first time. His musings had not prepared him for how soft her lips are or for the way she tastes… His other hand moves to her face as well, and he slips his fingers into the hair at the nape of her neck, pulling her closer.

Kissing Bass is like nothing Charlie has known before. She loves the feel of his beard and the firm but supple pressure of his lips. Her nerve endings are on fire. She sighs into the kiss.

When he tilts her head for a better angle she lets him.

When she presses her tongue between his lips, he makes a sexy little sound in the back of his throat before pulling away slightly. "Tongue Charlie? You don't think Rachel can see that from over there, do you?" He smirks just a little.

"Maybe the tongue wasn't for her benefit." Charlie responds quietly. Then she's kissing him again and this time she's not the only one deepening the kiss. They begin to explore and probe. She runs her tongue along his teeth. He bites down on it lightly, sucking it into his mouth. She's moaning into the kiss when they hear a door slam. Neither cares. Bass moves his hands from Charlie's hair, sliding them down her back to pull her closer.

"Hey Charlie?" his voice is low. He bites at her lower lip and then lets it go.

"Yeah." Charlie is breathless.

"If we don't dial this back a notch, you're going to see exactly how well my equipment still works."

She's smiling against his lips when Rachel storms up.

"What the hell is going on?" she demands. Her curly hair looks a little frizzy. She has bags under her eyes.

"What does it look like?" Charlie asks coyly.

Rachel is livid. "It looks like you are making out with this…this animal."

"Hey!" Bass says, indignant. "Be nice." Casually, he loops his arm around Charlie's waist, lightly stroking her ribcage through the soft fabric of the yellow dress. Rachel stares at the hand, seemingly unable to look away.

"You should leave." Charlie says to her mother. "We're really pretty busy." Charlie rests her hand on Bass' thigh and begins to slowly caress the hard muscles there. She feels his sharp intake of breath and she grins. "Seriously, go." Then she leans over as if to start kissing him again.

"Are you sleeping with him?" Rachel is indignant.

"Well wouldn't you? I mean, look at him." Charlie pauses, a wicked glint in her eye, "Oh, that's right. You already DID sleep with him." Charlie grins when she sees the shocked expression on her mother's face. "You don't think I deserve a turn? That's not very nice at all." This time when she leans up, she takes Bass' ear lobe in her teeth, gently biting down. She can feel him squirm and in spite of all that's going on; she feels a stirring deep within.

"You told her?" Rachel is glaring at Bass, hands on her hips.

Bass shrugs, "We tell each other everything." He's having a very difficult time concentrating. This game is much harder to play when Charlie is sucking on his ear and rubbing his leg. He's afraid that if she keeps it up, he may just come in his pants. Damn.

"Tells you everything, huh? So she told you that you aren't the first man who's stayed with her in this house? She's told you about the others?" Rachel's voice is bordering on hysterical.

Bass feels Charlie tense next to him, but he rubs her back soothingly. "Yeah, and I don't care. The past is the past. Besides, I'm sure they meant as little to her as you did to me." He meets Rachel's gaze. "Charlie was right. You should go." His voice is now cold. His eyes are hard.

Rachel growls, turns on her heel and stomps across the road. The front door slams shut behind her.

After a few minutes, Bass stands. He pulls Charlie to her feet and into his arms. They stay like that for a while. "You okay?" he finally asks.

She nods mutely into his shoulder. Bass leads her inside. He can tell she doesn't want to talk so he walks her to her room, says goodnight and lies down on the couch.

He can't sleep. Thoughts of Charlie plague him as he tosses and turns. Finally he gives up even trying. Remembering the book Charlie had given him earlier, he pulls it out from where he'd tucked it in the couch cushions and begins to read.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next morning dawns and Charlie is in the kitchen, eating a bowl of berries when Bass walks in. He's wearing nothing except for some old jeans that are hanging low. His hair is disheveled and he has bags under his eyes. He looks tired, but sexy.

"Couldn't sleep?" she asks.

He shakes his head, "Nope. You?"

Charlie shakes her head as well. "Not great. Sorry about last night."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for Charlie. You aren't to blame for what your psycho Mom does."

She takes a deep breath, "Well, fair enough. But I am sorry if I'm the reason you couldn't sleep."

"Nah, it wasn't you." His smile spreads into a grin. His eyes crinkle at the corners. "I was up late fixing your book." He tosses her copy of _Fifty Shades_ onto the kitchen table. "It was broken."

"Uh, what do you mean you were fixing it?" she asks, not entirely sure she even wants to know.

"Well, I read it and it's pretty awful."

"Okay?" she still isn't following.

"Aside from this chick needing a thesaurus, there were a lot of other issues with…" he pauses and then chuckles before continuing, "content, I guess you'd say."

"And you 'fixed' it?" Charlie is still confused.

He motions for her to open the book, and then he leans over her shoulder and points. "So the parts I think are good, I underlined. The really good stuff has a star next to it. Anytime I had something to add, I wrote notes in the margin." There are a lot of notes. He reaches over Charlie's shoulder to point at a section that does indeed have careful notes written in the margin. There are several sentences that have been crossed through as well, and there is one part that has four stars and an exclamation point next to it. Charlie scans through the book. Every page has some writing or stars. Her skin buzzes where his bare arm brushes her back.

"Wow." Charlie says, her eyes wide. "You did all this last night?"

"Well, it felt like an unfinished work to me. I wanted to make it better for you."

"For me?" she looks at him, and his smile has faded. He's gazing at her as if he has something important to say.

"Well, yeah for you." He smiles again but some of the intensity of his earlier gaze is gone. "Someday when you have a real boyfriend instead of a fake one like me, you might want to know some of this stuff."

He stands to leave the room, and she continues to look down at the book.

"Oh I almost forgot." He says before handing her a stack of ten or twelve loose leafs of paper. Every page is carefully filled with small, neat handwriting, stars and the occasional illustration. "She left a lot out completely, so I compiled everything I could think of that she didn't include." The grin is back. He's very proud of his work.

"Thanks, I think." Charlie says. She glances at some of the small drawings, which are in fact quite good. She pulls the paper closer to her face to take in the tiny details of one in particular. "Oh!" she exclaims, setting the paper down as an intense blush covers her face. "Oh." She says again, quieter this time.

When she looks up at Bass; the grin is gone. Instead she sees something very much like hunger.

**Author's Note: Next chap is done and ready to load. Make me want to load it sooner rather than later. Review! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Hello! I hope you won't mind my taking just a couple minutes of your time with what may end up being a lengthy AN. Thank you (insert your name here because I heard this from a LOT of you) for kindly pointing out my continuity errors in chapter 2. I adore constructive criticism and after I posted that chap, I had a lot to adore! Seriously, I am very thankful for readers who tell me the truth. Thanks from the bottom of my heart. Clearly I need to ask someone to review my chaps more often before posting them. I have issues with impatience and hate to wait. I need to work on that, obviously. I think those issues are fixed now for future readers or if anyone wants to ever read this little story again.**

**This fic has been a little different for me than most. I usually write out my entire plot before I start. I didn't with this one and that ended up being a mistake. I wrote chapter 2, but then decided some of that should actually be chapter 3, moved everything around, removed some scenes, added in some new ones…. I think the resulting chaps 2 & 3 work better than that first version plot-wise, but I missed those details. For that I'm so sorry. I hate reading a story only to be jerked out of my imagination by some error that reminds me I'm – you know - just reading a story. Thanks again for your help. **

**One last thing: I've never read Fifty Shades. I'm sure it's lovely. Hope I haven't offended anyone with Bass' need to 'correct' it…. I just figured it's the kind of thing he might want to do. :)**

That night she comes home to find him on the front porch, sitting in what she now thinks of as 'their spot'.

"Hey there fake girlfriend. " Bass says with a flirty grin, "I was thinking we might shake things up tonight."

She remembers the revised book and smiles coyly, more than a little curious. "Okay. What do you have in mind?"

He motions for her to follow and then heads inside. The get almost to the kitchen and he turns to her. "Close your eyes."

Charlie laughs, "Um, no?"

"Come on. I have a surprise for you. Close your eyes."

She finally does as he asks, and he puts his hands on her shoulders, pulling her close and inhaling the scent of her hair before turning her to face the kitchen table. "Open." He says. She can still hear the smile in his voice.

Charlie opens her eyes and barks with laughter when she sees Bass' surprise. This has nothing to do with the _Fifty Shades_ book. The surface of the Formica table top is covered with a stack of board games and Monopoly is already set out, ready to play. "I found these in the back of your hall closet. Hope you don't mind."

"That you've been snooping again?" she grins at him.

He shrugs. "I'm a curious man Charlie. Can't help it."

She laughs. "I'm kidding. I don't mind at all. Those were there when I moved in. I just have dug them out before." She smiles when she sees just how excited he is about his plan, "So, you want to play games, huh?"

He pulls her close against his chest, and whispers in her ear, "Oh yeah, I love playing games..." She shivers a little before he pulls away, suggesting they get started. "Winner chooses the next fake-date that we go on." He says with a grin.

Both Bass and Charlie are competitive and they have a great time working their way through the games he'd found. They play and drink and flirt. Without really planning it that way, it seems that they are already on their second fake date. The thing is that it doesn't feel all that fake to either one of them. Not fake at all.

They play well into the night. Finally they are both exhausted so Bass walks her to her room and leaves her there with a chaste kiss on her cheek before heading to the couch he calls his bed.

Bass can't remember having that much fun with a woman without also sleeping with her. He wants to do that too… oh, how he wants to do that, but he also just loves spending time with Charlie. She's really an amazing woman. Bass has had a bit of a crush on Charlie for a while now. Getting to know her better has deepened those feelings so much. He can't help but smile as he drifts off to sleep.

Down the hall, Charlie is having similar thoughts. She giggles quietly as she thinks about how much fun they had tonight just playing stupid board games. The two of them really have a great time together. Her smile fades as she thinks about other ways they could have fun… She lights a candle and finds the book he'd written in. Charlie pulls out the extra pages Bass had given her and thumbs through them. There is this thing he detailed that she really wants to try. For now, all she can do is read it. Again.

A while later, Charlie drifts off to sleep. She too, does so with a smile on her face.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bass wakes with a start. He doesn't know how much time has passed but the night is heavy and dark. He has just sat up and is reaching for his knife when someone bolts into the room. He realizes it's Charlie and puts his knife away. "Monroe! Someone was in the house." She sounds very frightened.

"What do you mean?" he asks, concerned.

She sits down next to him on the couch. "I had my window open to let in some air. I was sleeping pretty well but then something woke me up and when I opened my eyes, someone was standing there. Bass starts to stand, grabbing his knife again. "No." she says putting a hand on his arm. "They left through my bedroom window almost as soon as I saw them." She's shaking.

"You're sure? Maybe you had a bad dream?"

"No way. Someone was there."

"Did you close the window?"

"Yeah, and locked it."

"Okay. Tomorrow morning we'll go talk to the town constable."

Charlie frowns, "Are you sure you want to tell him about this?"

"Hey we pay taxes now. We're getting civilization back. Might as well use it." Bass isn't thrilled about the meeting, but he does think it's the best bet.

"Okay. We'll do that." She hesitates.

"What?" he can tell something else is still bothering her.

"I think we were wrong about my Mom."

"What do you mean?" he asks.

"Well, when she was here the other day she looked awful." Charlie pauses, "like she hasn't been sleeping and she just seemed kind of not herself."

"Yeah, I did notice that. What do you think we were wrong about?" He can tell Charlie is upset so he pulls her closer.

She sinks into his embrace, noticing for the first time in the shadowy darkness, that his chest is bare. Being in his arms… it feels right. Charlie sighs, "I think she had already taken the bait. She's been killing herself watching us."

He nods a little, "Yeah, you might be right."

"I think it was her."

"What do you mean?"

"I think she's who was in my room. I think she was checking to see…"

"If I was in your bed?" he asks, suddenly feeling a shiver of dread.

"Yeah."

"Well, when we go in tomorrow, we'll tell him that's what you think."

"Okay." She says. Her voice sounds small. "I never thought she would do anything like that. I really only wanted to make her mad, not drive her crazy."

He softly kisses her temple. "Charlie, it's going to be okay. If this is taking things too far with your Mom, we can just take a step back. Hell, if it's what you want we can stop pretending to be a couple completely. We can flat-out tell her it wasn't ever real. Whatever you think is right. I'm on your side here. You just need to decide what you want."

"What I want?" She's absently stroking his collar bone. Her breath is hot against his neck.

This is killing him. "Yeah." He says. "The ball is in your court Charlie. What do you want?"

She makes a decision. "I want to stop pretending Monroe. I'm sick of pretending."

His heart falls. So it's back to just being roommates. He knew this was probably coming. "Okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. If that's what you want."

Charlie kisses his cheek, feeling the soft whiskers under her lips. "It's what I want." She splays her fingers wide, running her palm from where it rests on his collar bone up the other side of his throat and slows only when she's cupping that side of his face. She turns him toward her.

Bass' heart it hammering. What the hell is she doing?

Charlie leans so close that her lips now hover against his. "I'm sick of pretending." She says again very quietly.

"You said that." He's whispering, unsure of what is happening.

"Well I didn't want you to misunderstand."

He has no clue what she's talking about, but if she's not going to kiss him she needs to move way the hell back. He's going to explode. This tension is driving him crazy. "Misunderstand what?"

"This." Charlie presses her lips against his and kisses him softly. A million thoughts flash through his head, but one is louder than the rest. She isn't pretending to like him… to want him… She's telling him this is actually how she feels.

He doesn't know why, but Charlie Matheson has decided she likes him. She wants him. Him.

And he is okay with that. Bass pulls her sideways onto his lap and kisses her back. The kiss intensifies as he runs his hands over her body, taking in the fact that she's wearing a tiny tee shirt and panties and nothing else. She licks his lips and he sucks on her tongue. She moves around, pulling a leg up and over to straddle him without taking her lips from his. Bass groans, tucking his fingers under the thin elastic at the top of her panties. Bass slowly moves his fingers under the flimsy fabric, feeling the tuft of curls hidden underneath. He loves the way she strains against him. He swallows her moan into the kiss.

Suddenly there is a loud pounding on the door and they break apart, startled.

"What the hell?" Bass asks. The first rays of sunrise are peeking through the windows. "Who would be here this early?" His voice conveys the confusion he's feeling as well as the frustration at the fact that they'd been so rudely interrupted.

Charlie stands up. She feels a little shaky. Glancing down she frowns. "I can't answer the door like this." She walks the few steps down to the bathroom door where a soft green robe hangs.

Bass watches her longingly. Charlie looks thoroughly debauched. Her lips are swollen. Her eyes are dilated. Her hair is a mess. She pulls the robe on and he watches sadly as she hides her curves under the loose sway of cloth. Charlie goes to the door. By the time she opens it, Bass has moved to stand directly behind her; the sheet wrapped loosely around his naked body.

"What are you doing here?" Charlie asks their visitor.

"Well, I'm here in an official capacity Charlie. One of your neighbors thought maybe you had an intruder and rode his horse down to the station to report it. I got here as soon as I could. You okay?" The town constable is pointedly ignoring Bass' presence.

"Yes, someone did break in. We're okay, but I do want to file a report. Come on in."

He enters, moving past Bass without saying a word to him.

"Aren't you even going to say hello to me?" Bass asks the constable, irritably.

Frowning, the visitor finally looks at him. "Hello Dad. When did this…" he motions between Bass and Charlie, "happen?"

Bass shrugs. "Recently." He notices that Connor knows his way around, clearly having been here before. Bass feels jealousy stirring in his gut. He remembers Rachel's comment about Charlie having men stay over before he'd moved in. Bass wonders if she's been involved with Connor again. He thought that was all in the distant past, but maybe not. Bass frowns.

"Well, why don't you put on some pants?" Connor looks annoyed that his Dad is standing around mostly naked. He turns to her, "Charlie, can you show me where they got in?"

"Sure. This way." Bass watches as Charlie leads Connor down the short hall to her room. He's stewing as he drops the sheet and yanks on some old jeans.

They both make official statements. They don't accuse Rachel outright, but they do say enough to convince Connor that she should be questioned.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Connor leaves them and since he's in the neighborhood, walks across the street to Rachel's house. He knocks, expecting to be greeted by the disheveled and desperate version of Rachel that his Dad and Charlie had described to him. Instead, the Rachel that opens the door is as beautiful and collected as ever. Connor has always found her to be immeasurably attractive. He often wishes he'd had a chance with this Matehson woman instead of Charlie.

Rachel invites Connor in and offers him tea.

"So Rachel, I hear you were over visiting Charlie and Dad last night?"

"No, not last night. It was the night before. I went over to say hello. That's all."

"So you didn't go over last night? Maybe go in through the window?"

She takes a sip of tea from an elegant little cup. Smiling sweetly over the brim, she answers. "Of course not. Why would I do that?" She looks perfectly innocent. Too innocent Connor thinks.

"Well Rachel, they both seem to think you might have an issue with their relationship. Frankly that sounds realistic to me. Everyone knows how you feel about my Dad."

"Connor, don't be silly. There is no relationship. Charlie and Monroe are just roommates, you know?"

"Roommates? That's what you think?" Connor can't hold back a chuckle. He shakes his head and presses on. "Why did you go over? Tell me again."

"I just wanted to say hello. Why do you doubt they are just roommates?" she asks casually, as if the answer means nothing.

"Well, I guess mostly because I was just over there and Dad was naked and Charlie looked freshly fu…" Connor thinks better of his word choices, and starts again, "let's just say it was very clear that I'd interrupted something that roommates don't usually do. Or if they do, I seriously need to find myself a roommate." He's laughing at his own joke but still notes the change in her.

Rachel's expression hardens and Connor sees just for a moment a glimpse of darkness in this beautiful woman. He thinks this is very interesting, but pretends not to have noticed. She seems confused that Bass and Charlie would have thought she might have broken in. Connor is curious about this woman. She clearly is someone he needs to watch.

He drinks his tea, thanks her and leaves. He decides he'll track his Dad down later to chat about that visit. Connor can feel her eyes on him as he leaves and he has a feeling he shouldn't go back over to Charlie's just yet.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bass and Charlie don't say much after Connor leaves. Suddenly everything feels awkward. Even though it's early, Bass says he's going to town. Charlie gets ready for work. Both are internally rehashing the events of the night before. Both are conflicted. Clearly there is more happening between them than just friendship, but neither knows what is coming next or what to do about it.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Connor has had a busy day. Taking the job of town constable after returning to Willoughby had been a gamble. His goal is to work his way up the Texas ladder. This current position is far from where he wants to be, but he's willing to put in the hours. The payoff will hopefully make up for the shit-kicking work he's doing now.

And shit-kicking is all he's been doing lately. Solving the petty little problems in this town is dull even when it is somewhat challenging. Pretending he gives a rat's ass about any of these stupid people is his biggest challenge though. At least this thing with Charlie and his Dad is interesting, and in spite of the history there; he does care about them both.

He wishes Miles was around. He'd like to talk about Rachel with someone who has a positive impression of her. Strangely, that is turning out to be more difficult than he'd expected. Even Aaron, who Connor had thought was Rachel's friend, hadn't been very supportive. Miles is gone for at least another week though, so that conversation will have to wait.

The things he has learned today have been both insightful and disturbing. Connor really needs to talk to his Dad.

"Speak of the devil." He mutters as he sees Bass walk into a dark little bar.

By the time Connor gets inside, Bass is already sitting on a bar stool, chugging down the contents of a big glass. A bosomy red head is leaning suggestively close. He appears to be ignoring her, and everyone else for that matter. As Connor approaches, he hears Bass growl, "Like I said, Lady. Back off. I'm not interested."

In an obvious snit, the red head stomps off. She stops short when she spies Connor. "Hello Handsome." She says with a flirty grin.

Connor looks her up and down with a bored little smile. "No thanks lady. I'm not interested either."

She sneers, and mutters something about 'the damn men in this town' before leaving in a huff.

"What do you want Connor?" Bass asks without looking up.

Connor motions for the surly bartender Big Esther to bring him some coffee before turning to his Dad. "Wanted to talk to you. Got a minute?"

Bass frowns at his son. "What is it?"

"What's the deal with you and Rachel? The real deal? I mean, I've been asking around and she's seriously got it in for you. Did you know she was behind getting you evicted?"

Bass nods. "Yeah, I knew."

"Did you know she's the reason you didn't get that job working at the jail?"

Bass didn't even know Connor was aware he'd applied for that job, much less that Rachel had known about it. He fully faces Connor now, giving the younger man his full attention. "What do you mean? What did she have to do with that?" Bass had assumed he hadn't gotten the job a couple months back for any number of reasons. It hadn't even occurred to him that Rachel could be one of them.

Connor shrugs, "I don't know all the details, but when I was asking around today, it became clear that she has made it her mission in life to screw you over."

"And that job?" Bass is starting to seethe.

"Jackson that runs the jail? I knew he'd worked some with Miles and probably knew Rachel, so I was just asking him general questions. He told me he likes Miles but that Rachel gives him the creeps. Then he went on to say she told everyone at a dinner party all about you holding her captive and that you were an evil guy and she hoped you'd be run out of town." Connor sees the fury come over his Dad's face. "Listen, he said that after she went on and on like that, he felt his hands were tied. How could he hire you if that stuff was true? He seemed sorry. Said you interviewed well and that he liked you fine."

Bass slams his fist into the bar top. "Fucking bitch!" he yells loud enough that Big Esther who has been tending bar for longer than Bass Monroe has drawn breath, gives him a stern look. Bass settles, taking in a shaky breath, which he chases with a gulp of whiskey. "I bet she's the reason I can't find any job. I know people think I haven't been trying, but damn it Connor – I have applied for everything."

"I'm sorry Dad."

"Shit." Bass suddenly remembers his interview with Blanchard. If Rachel knows about that one, he probably won't get it either. "I just applied for a new job yesterday. Maybe with Miles out of town, she won't know about it."

"Is all that stuff true? That you held her captive and whatever?"

Bass frowns again, "Most of it, yeah. I keep thinking that I've changed enough to put it all behind me. Miles did just as much crazy shit as I did. Hell, maybe more, and he's like the fucking king of Willoughby. Nobody cares what he used to be capable of. They won't forgive me for anything." Again he slams his fist on the bar. "Shit!"

"Watch it Bass." Big Esther says with a frown from the other end of the bar. "I don't care that you used to a President of your little Nation. This is my bar. I'm in charge here. No cursing." She grins at them then, showing off a smile that is missing a few teeth.

"Sorry Big Esther." Bass mumbles.

"So you and Rachel," Connor returns to the subject he's most curious about, "Did you guys ever – you know?"

Bass gapes at him, "Why does everyone want to know about that? Ugh!"

"So that's a yes then?" Connor probes with a grin.

"Shit." Bass takes a deep drink before speaking again, "Yeah I fucked her once." He shudders as if the memory is vile. "I did not set her free, which was what she was hoping for when she offered and I didn't go back or even talk to her for about a year afterwards. The next time I saw her... well she was kind of pissed."

"Her anger does make more sense now, I guess." Connor looks thoughtful. "Didn't go back for a year? That bad?"

"Let's just say I'd rather fuck Big Esther than revisit Rachel Matheson's bed."

"I heard that!" Big Esther bellows, but she's chuckling.

Bass shrugs in apology and then turns back to his son, "Rachel is a nasty human being with no soul Connor. I know she hates me. I know she wants to do me harm, but I can't let her hurt Charlie. I'm going to have to find a new place to live."

"Yeah, that's probably not gonna work." Connor says with a frown.

"Why's that? It was all for show anyway. We were just trying to piss Rachel off. Clearly it worked." Bass sounds defeated.

"Maybe you started out pretending it was for show. Maybe you thought it was, but I'm not buying it. When you talk about her your whole face changes. Does she even know?"

"Know what?" Bass is staring at his whiskey again. His voice is quiet.

"That you're falling in love with her?"

Bass doesn't move for a moment. Slowly he turns and faces his son. "No, she doesn't know."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Later that night Charlie sits alone on the front steps, sipping her whiskey. Bass hasn't been back all day. She wonders where he is and who he's with. She takes another drink, and remembers the way it felt to kiss him – to really kiss him. She closes her eyes and imagines what it will be like to do more. She hears someone approach.

It's a Monroe, but it's the wrong one.

"Constable." She says, raising her bottle in a mock toast.

"Charlie, may I sit?" When she nods, he takes a seat a couple steps below hers. "So you and my Dad, huh?"

She shrugs, "I don't know what's happening there Connor. I don't even know where he is."

He pauses, watching her closely, "I know where he is. Just talked to him. He's at the bar getting hammered." Connor sees her expression and smiles. "Well, well, well."

"What?" she's in no mood for Connor's bullshit.

"You really like him. I wasn't sure… but I guess I should have known. I've known he has had feelings for you for a long time of course, but I didn't realize it went both ways. Thought maybe this new thing was just about sex for you…"

Charlie looks up, "What? What do you mean he has feelings for me? What are you talking about?"

"When we were in New Vegas he pretty much told me that he didn't want me anywhere around you. We were in that stupid cage. He thought he was going to die and still wasn't willing to give you up. He told me to find a nice girl, but not you."

"He said that?"

"Yeah," Connor shakes his head, "That's when I realized I screwed up, by you know… screwing you. He'd really meant it when he warned me to stay away before."

"I thought that he warned you when you guys were in the cage? That was after you and I had already…?"

"He warned me to stay away from you before we ever got to New Vegas. I didn't listen, obviously, then afterwards was when he told me to find someone else."

Charlie stands and starts pacing. She looks really agitated.

Connor is nervous. He can tell Charlie is stewing and he's not exactly sure why. Finally she comes to a stop right in front of him, and without warning kicks him off the step. He tumbles face first into the dirt.

"Shit Charlie. What was that for?"

"You knew he liked me and you slept with me anyway?" she's mad. She's really mad.

"Hey Charlie. You were there too. It wasn't just me…in fact it was YOU who came onto ME."

"Yeah," Charlie says as she walks down the stairs, and steps over him, "But I liked him too, even then. If I'd have known…. Shit" She kicks him hard in the ribs. "Shit." She says again before walking away.

"Damnit Charlie!" he yells after her, "You can't just kick the town constable."

"Oh yeah?" Charlie yells back at him, "Come arrest me then, asshole." She keeps walking. Connor is pretty sure he knows where she's headed.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bass isn't drunk, but he's working on getting there. He can't get Charlie out of his head. Kissing her had been a mistake. Kissing her again had been a bigger mistake. Never does he remember wanting to repeat a mistake so badly. He's afraid that if he goes home and sees her, he won't be able to control himself any longer.

And then there's all this Rachel bullshit. Bass is torn. He doesn't want to leave Charlie, but he wonders if she is safe as long as he's living with her.

He can't decide what to do, so he's here in this miserable little hell hole instead of where he really wants to be… with Charlie.

As if conjured by his imagination, suddenly she's there.

"Hey Bass." Charlie says quietly, her expression grim. She doesn't look at him. Instead she motions for Big Esther to get her a bottle. "Come with me."

"You don't ever call me Bass." He says, confused. Frowning, he follows her out of the bar.

She doesn't speak until they've reached the little playground. "Sit" Charlie points at a swing. Bass sits. Charlie paces back and forth in front of him. "You're an asshole."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're an epic jackass prick of an asshole."

Bass tries to stand up and she pushes him back into the swing. He's getting pissed. "Charlie, I have not had an awesome day here. What the hell is going on?"

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"About what?" Bass has no clue what she's talking about.

"You liked me? You liked me in New fucking Vegas and didn't tell me?" Charlie is yelling. "You liked me and you let me think you had something going on with Duncan and so I slept with Connor and all that time YOU LIKED ME?"

He stands and this time, when she tries to push him back down, he uses his superior strength to get hold of her. She struggles for just a minute, punching him in frustration. Then he pulls her tight to his chest and holds her. "I'm sorry." He says against her hair. "I'm so sorry. I should have told you. I didn't think it would matter."

She looks up at him and he sees he was wrong. His heart lurches.

"God you're an idiot. It would have mattered." She's talking so quietly he almost doesn't hear the words. "It still matters…if it's still true?" She looks up at him then, and he sees his own feelings reflected in her eyes.

"Oh, it's still true." His voice is shaking slightly.

This time when their lips meet, there is no hesitation. There is no doubt. He wraps his arms tightly around her. Her hands tangle in his hair. They both pour the emotion and the tension and the missed opportunity of the past months into this kiss. They pull apart almost regretfully. Bass places his forehead against hers, "Let's go home."

"Yeah, let's go home."

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the awesome comments. Keep them coming. I'll have the next chap here probably by mid-week (If you like smut at all, this next chap will be especially fun for you). **

**For those asking about the next update to Brush Strokes… I'm finishing the first draft of Chapter 4 right now. Once I get that done (probably tonight) and Priya works her magic with it… it will get posted too (by Tuesday I'd guess). Thanks again. -Lemon**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Warning… Lemons ahead. :) **

Charlie and Bass walk hand in hand from the old playground to their house. They don't speak, but they do share shy smiles and stop for the occasional kiss. The energy between them is plump with promise. The air hums with anticipation.

And then Bass starts to slow. His expression grows pensive.

"What is it?" Charlie asks, suddenly nervous. They are close enough that they can now see the house, but she's not sure why they are slowing down. "What's wrong?"

Bass comes to a stop. She stops next to him, looking up at his face.

"Nothing is wrong." But he doesn't meet her eyes.

"Monroe." She says sternly. "What the hell?"

He turns to face her, "So now I'm Monroe again?" Bass asks quietly.

"I just don't know what's going on. You suddenly seem distant and I want to know why."

"I think we should talk." He says, holding her gaze.

"Shit." Charlie pulls her hand from his, crossing her arms across her chest. "This sounds an awful lot like you are dumping me and we've only just started something here."

He moves closer and takes her hand again. "I am not dumping you." His mouth lifts at the corner. "I just want to talk before we go inside. That's all."

"Talk about what?" She's frowning. "Are you changing your mind?"

"No." Bass shakes his head, "I am not changing my mind." He leans in and kisses her again. "But I do want to talk about this before..."

"Before what?" Charlie asks, her voice breathless after the kiss.

"Before we go inside and I…" he trails off as he begins to nip at her throat.

"Before we go inside and you have your way with me?" she asks. Her smile is back.

"Yeah. Before I do that, I want to talk. That okay?"

They make it to the house. She leads him to their spot on the porch steps. They sit close enough that their thighs are pressed against each other. "So, what do you want to talk about?" Charlie asks impatiently.

He runs a hand nervously across his jaw. "I guess I just want to make sure you get how big this is."

"Wow Bass, You're worried about how big it is? Cause I'm not." She laughs loudly.

Bass looks at her blankly for a moment before cracking a smile himself. "Jesus Charlie. I was not talking about _that_." He shakes his head. "I mean us starting something. That's what is big." He reaches for her hand. "Not just because of our history, but because of your family and the age thing and all of it." Their eyes meet and Charlie's smile fades.

"Well, yeah I get that it's a big deal." She frowns. "We do have history. Not all of it is pretty. For a long time I blamed you for my Dad and Danny." Charlie pauses before continuing, "I don't blame you for what happened to them anymore."

"You don't?" he looks uncertain and skeptical.

"No." she shakes her head, "I haven't for a while now."

Bass wants to believe her, but it's hard for him to accept. "But why?" his expression is pained; his voice raw.

"Well, first of all you kept saving me. You kept saving me even when I wanted to kill you. So, that was part of it. I could tell that you weren't the kind of person who I had thought you were."

"Okay." He pauses, digesting her words. "What else?"

"One day I woke up and realized that I'd become immune."

"Immune to me?" he isn't sure what she means.

"No. Immune to killing people. I remember lying there trying to count the people I'd killed and I couldn't remember them all. None of it was personal. They were all just in the wrong place at the wrong time, fighting for the wrong side."

Bass nods. This he understands.

She goes on, "And I was trying to count them when the other thing occurred to me."

"What other thing?"

"Every one of those people I killed… every one of them was somebody's brother or somebody's Dad and I had killed them as if it meant nothing." She sighs. "And I felt bad, but I knew that it didn't change anything. If I had to do it over, I would. This is a war. So it is not fair for me to blame you for doing something that I've also done. I can't treat you differently just because your actions impacted my family. We've all messed with someone's family."

"I'm sorry Charlie. I'm sorry you ever had to kill anyone or try to justify doing it." He looks at her sadly.

"I don't want you to be sorry or feel bad for me. I'm lucky. I don't spend my free time hanging out with the families of the people I killed, constantly having that thrown in my face. I honestly don't know how you do it." She shrugs and then looks into his eyes. "Why do you stay?"

Bass inhales deeply and lets the breath out slow and steady. "I need Miles in my life." He pauses, staring at the ground. "I know how lame that sounds. I'm a grown ass man, but he's my brother and my best friend and I need him in my life."

"I don't think it's lame Bass."

He smiles sadly, "I do like it when you call me Bass."

She smiles back. "I'm glad Miles is so important to you, that you feel the need to stick around."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. If he wasn't, you wouldn't be here, and we wouldn't be sitting out here talking…" she strokes his thigh with her fingers. "And later we wouldn't be going inside and not talking."

"We haven't yet talked about all the stuff…"

Charlie cuts him off, "Well, then let's do it now. Here it is. Yes we have history. Yes I slept with your son and you slept with my Mom. Yes you are way older than me and my family isn't going to be super excited that we are together. Did I forget anything?"

"Uh, no. I don't think so." He runs his hand through his curls. He still looks sad, but also a little hopeful.

"You know what?"

"What?"

"I don't give a shit about any of that." Charlie shrugs and then stands.

"What do you mean Charlie?"

"I mean it's time for you to snap out of it. I like you." She pauses, tilting her head a little. "I like you a lot. You said that you like me too. I want to be with you. Tonight."

He stands now as well, but still seems unsure. She rolls her eyes and opens the front door. "When you are done ringing your hands, come on in and get in my bed." Then she's gone, swallowed by the darkness within. But he hears her when she says. "Come on Monroe. We are done talking for tonight."

Bass pauses for a few moments, wondering how he got so lucky. Charlie Matheson likes him. She wants to be with him. "What the hell am I doing out here?" he growls to himself before heading inside.

The interior of Charlie's house is cloaked in darkness, but Bass can see a tiny sliver of flickering light that shines from under Charlie's door. He gets to it and knocks lightly. "Charlie?" he asks. She doesn't answer, but he slowly pushes the door open anyway.

The candles on either side of Charlie's bed are lit and the soft light bounces around the room. His eyes fall on Charlie and he sucks in a deep breath. She has made the most of these past few moments, lighting candles and stripping down to nothing. Bass' heartbeat accelerates. She faces away from him; her naked body glows in the flickering light. Her wavy hair hangs long and loose down her back, the ends brushing the curve of her ass. In that moment Bass knows Charlie was right. None of the other stuff matters. "Charlie?" he asks again, his voice now rough.

"My back." She says without turning around. "Rub my back Bass. It's been a long day." As she speaks, she sways a little, tantalizing him with her perfect backside.

Bass doesn't need to be asked twice. Shrugging out of his jacket, he approaches and stands just behind her. He leans close, but doesn't touch her yet. "You're sure about this?"

"Yeah, Bass. I'm sure."

When Monroe puts his hands on Charlie's bare shoulders, she can feel a slight tremor in his fingers. Slowly, he begins to knead the tight muscles there, working his way leisurely down her arms. Moving his attention to the small of her back, Bass carefully presses his thumbs into the tension just under the warm skin. She moans softly, pressing back against his touch; erasing the space between their bodies. Bass moves his hands to encircle her waist, leaning over her shoulder he searches for her lips with his own. Charlie turns her head to meet his mouth with hers.

This kiss is sweet and gentle. Softly, Bass runs his hands up her abdomen until he is just barely brushing the underside of her full breasts with the lightest of feather touches. Bass isn't in a rush. In spite of the verbal hints and queues Charlie is giving him; he doesn't yet touch her nipples. Instead, he moves his fingers back and forth along the tender flesh just underneath. He feels her shiver and Bass smiles into the kiss. He takes her shoulders, turning her to face him head on. He takes a moment to look at her, to soak her up with his eyes. "Charlie, you are so beautiful."

She reaches out, stroking a fingertip along the collar of his v-neck tee. "And you are not nearly naked enough Bass." She smiles at him and he can't help but smile back.

He pulls the shirt off easily, tossing it over his shoulder. "Better?"

"So much better." She breathes out shakily as she strokes the smooth flesh of his chest, mesmerized by the cut of muscle and the occasional scar.

Bass watches the emotions that play across her face as she touches him.

Charlie remembers the first time she saw him without a shirt. She'd hated him. She'd wanted him dead, but even then she'd recognized that he possessed the kind of body she wanted to touch – a body she wanted to know better. It hadn't been a thought she'd dwelt on at the time, but in hindsight she realizes that she'd wanted to touch him from that very first night in New Vegas when she'd watched him fight in the ring. She runs her hands gently up and down the firm muscular chest, memorizing the feel of him under her fingers.

Bass loves her hands on him. He loves watching her learn his body. He loves feeling the heat of her skin so close to his own. He moves her hands from his chest to his denim clad hips. Then he wraps his arms around her and pulls her close. The feel of their nakedness pressed together is intoxicating. Their lips meet and this kiss is not so sweet and not so gentle. The passion behind them is almost too much. Bass bites lightly at her bottom lip. Charlie sucks at his tongue, tangling it around with her own. She moves her hands from his hips to his fly, carefully unfastening his jeans to release his throbbing shaft.

Charlie begins to ease Bass' jeans over his hips. He pulls away from her long enough to kick out of his boots and step out of his pants. Then he's kissing her again, and now the kiss is urgent with desire. Bass wants to spend hours worshipping Charlie's body, and he will next time, but right now there is too much need in him. His dick is painfully hard as it presses against her belly. She's stroking his ass with her hands, scraping lightly with her nails. He moves his lips to her throat, sucking and biting at the flesh over her pulse. Without breaking the kiss, he walks her over to the bed.

Bass follows her to the mattress, his body spreading over hers. He kisses her forehead and trails delicate little kisses down her cheek and across her collar bone. Settling over her right breast, he takes the pebbled nipple in his mouth and sucks gently. She keens against him, arching her back to force him closer. When he's done there, Bass moves to her other breast for a repeat performance. Charlie is writhing under him now. He sees her need and it matches his own.

"Charlie." His whisper is hot on her ear.

"Yeah?"

"I want to hold out a little longer, but I want you too much. I need you." His voice trembles. "I need you now."

In answer, Charlie opens herself to him. He settles between her legs as their lips meet again, and he feels like he's never belonged anywhere else so perfectly. He reaches between their bodies, searching for her heat. He finds her dripping with desire and he growls appreciatively. "You're so wet."

"It's all for you Bass. It's all for you." Her whispered reply sends all other thoughts scurrying. Using his fingers, he urges her velvety folds to flower open and then in one sure movement he buries his cock in her heat. Charlie takes in a ragged breath, and moves just a little to better accommodate his size. "Shit Bass. When you asked if I knew how big it was, I knew you weren't just talking about our history."

He smirks before kissing her lightly. "You all good?" his voice is strained.

"Oh yeah," she says softly, moving under him to welcome him deeper. "So good." When he hears her words and feels her move beneath him, what little control he had been clinging to, shatters. He pulls almost all the way from her before thrusting deeply to sheath himself in her depths again. Charlie moans and arches against him, wanting more.

He gives her more.

Bass can't get enough of her. She is tight and hot and everything he ever wanted. He's pounding her into the mattress and he knows he should probably ease up but he just can't. Charlie reaches up and grasps the iron bars of the headboard for leverage. Bass feels that he's getting closer and he wants to be as deep inside Charlie as he can get. Pausing for just a moment, he grasps her legs, moving her calves to his shoulders. This time when he pumps into her, he's reaching a new place and Charlie cries out, her eyes wide.

Bass stops, afraid he's hurt her.

"Don't stop! Please don't stop!" Charlie's voice is frantic. She's close too.

Bass groans and proceeds with deep, hard thrusts. He feels when the orgasm begins to take her and as she shudders to climax, the spasms grasp his dick like a vice.

"Shit." He mutters. Unable to hold back, be rocks into her feverishly; stopping only when he feels his balls tighten. Bass pulls out quickly, rolling to his back he jacks himself to completion; coming across his stomach with a grunt.

They are still sprawled out like that minutes later. Breathing has finally returned to normal for both of them. Charlie leans up on an elbow to look at Bass in the flickering candlelight.

"See?" she grins at him.

"See what?" he asks lazily. Not yet ready to move at all. His body is so relaxed he wonders if this is what it would feel like not to have bones.

"That I was right. We had better things to do than talk."

Bass laughs, and looks at her, "Yeah, you were right about that." She blows out the candles and puts her head on his shoulder. He wraps his arm around her loosely. "Charlie?"

"Yeah Bass?"

"You asked why I stay. I told you it's because I need Miles in my life."

"Yeah?"

"He's not the only one I need in my life." He presses a kiss against the top of her head.

"I'm glad to hear that, because he's not the only one who needs you back." She pauses and then continues, "Bass?"

"Yeah, Charlie?" he's grinning into the darkness as she nestles closer into his embrace.

"I'm sleepy." Her voice is soft and quiet. She yawns.

"You sending me back to the couch?" he asks with a smirk.

"Now that I have you in my bed, I'm never going to let you leave."

He kisses her forehead softly, "Oh really?"

"Yep. I'll burn the damn couch before I let you sleep on it again." He can hear the sleepy smile in her voice. It is soon followed by Charlie's even breathing as she drifts off to sleep.

Bass is having a hard time keeping his own eyes open, but takes a minute to think about the day and about how much better his life is tonight than it was this morning. His last thought before sleeping, is that he's exactly where he wants to be.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bass wakes slowly. He feels the warmth of the morning sun and the weight of her as she straddles him, and the way her long hair brushes his chest as she kisses his neck…

His eyes pop wide open. Memories from the night before come rushing into his head and he smiles. "Good morning." Bass whispers into Charlie's hair.

She sits up, looking at him; her wet heat resting low on his belly. His cock springs to life and when she feels it straining against the flesh of her ass; she grins. "Good morning to you too." Charlie uses her legs to lift her body, and then reaches between them to line him up. Slowly she lowers herself onto him and he can't think of any better way to wake up than this.

"Damn." He says softly as she begins to ride him, slow and easy. Charlie holds his gaze and he is lost in her blue eyes. The sunlight streams through her hair and he can't remember ever seeing such perfect beauty. She's found a pace she likes, and he reaches up to grasp her breasts in his hands, squeezing lightly at her firm nipples. He watches her move up and down. Her eyes go hazy and she reaches down to stroke her clit. He leaves one hand on a breast and bats hers away with the other. "No Charlie, that's my job." He says simply as he begins to stroke that knot of nerve endings she'd been reaching for. Bass watches her face closely. He knows her climax is near when he sees the way her skin flushes and her breathing becomes shallow and her eyes lose focus. When she comes, she does it like she does everything else: totally and completely. Her whole body rocks with it. He can feel her vaginal walls grasping and stroking his dick. Watching her find that release pushes him closer to his own, and he pushes at her gently. "I'm close. Move."

She lifts and pivots. His dick pops out of her heat with a slippery smacking sound. He reaches down to finish himself, but she stops him. "No Bass, that's MY job." Before he even registers what is happening, she's taken him in her mouth. He doesn't last long, spurting deep into her throat.

She collapses next to him, throwing one long leg over his and wrapping her arm around his waist. "You know what?"

Bass loves the feel of her in his arms. "What is it Charlie?"

She smirks at him, and playfully says, "I'm really, really glad that you got evicted."

Bass can't help but laugh. "Yeah, I guess I'm really glad about that too."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bass meets Connor for lunch. "Any leads on the case?" he asks his son before taking a bite of the vile stew generously called 'the house special'.

"Uh, no. Not really." He's looking at Bass strangely.

"What?" Bass asks, his mouth full of stew. He swallows, then repeats, "What?"

"I don't know." Connor says slowly. "You're being weird." He's watching his Dad carefully.

Bass shakes his head, "I have no idea what you're talking about." But his eyes are sparkling.

"You're smiling." Connor comments thoughtfully. "You're kind of… happy."

"What the hell? Can't a guy be happy?" He grins at his son.

"Oh, I see." Connor is nodding now, also smiling. "You and Charlie must have figured out your shit."

Bass shrugs, "Yeah, we're good."

"Well, based on the big grin on your stupid face, you're more than doing good." Connor chuckles. "I'm glad. It was time."

Bass' smile fades. His expression grows serious. "Yeah, it was."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Pittman Academy is as unique as its founder Aaron. Not only does it offer classes for elementary and high school students; it also has a wide variety of what he calls 'life courses' available. Community members are encouraged to teach whatever it is they know and anyone interested in learning can attend. Priscilla teaches cooking. Rachel teaches basic physics. Charlie teaches survival skills and hunting. Other Willoughby residents teach sewing, woodworking and art. The school has become a community center of sorts.

Charlie plops down in the chair across from Aaron.

He speaks without looking up, "So, you and Monroe?"

"Wow. How did you hear about that?" Charlie truly is surprised. After all they'd only admitted their feelings for each other the night before.

"Heard you were living together."

"Oh that."

Now he looks up. "Oh that? Like there is something else I should know?" he leans back, studying her for a moment. Rolling his eyes, he shifts his attention back to the pad of paper in front of him. "You're not just roommates are you?"

"Um…"

"No, it's okay. I don't want to know." He keeps working. She stands and starts to leave.

"Hey Charlie."

"Yeah Aaron?"

"Be careful okay. I really don't want to die."

Charlie walks back over to him, concern etched on her face. "What are you talking about?"

"Well," he looks up at her again, his expression determined, "If Monroe breaks your heart or hurts you, I'm going to have to go after him and we both know who wins in a fight between Staypuft and Batman."

Charlie tries to hide her smile, but fails miserably. "First of all, I don't think he's going to be breaking my heart. This feels… different. I don't know how to explain it, but there's something there." She leans down and gives Aaron a hug, "And thanks for wanting to defend me, but if Bass hurts me, I'll be sure to take care of him myself."

Aaron chuckles. "That's probably a good idea. Hell hath no fury like a Matheson woman scorned."

Charlie feels a chill as she thinks of her Mom.

"You okay?" Aaron asks, noticing the change in her demeanor.

"Yeah, just thinking about my Mom."

He looks at her blankly for a moment and then his eyes go wide. "Oh, yeah. Speaking of scary Matheson women…."he frowns. "How is she taking all this?"

"Not well?" Charlie offers.

Aaron nods slowly, "Well I can't help you there. I'm no match for Monroe, but I'm not even in the same atmosphere as your Mom. She's the Devil. I'm Jimminy Cricket." He tries to laugh at his lame little joke, but he struggles. "Sorry Charlie."

"It's okay. It will all work out, I hope." She looks down at the desk for the first time and notices that Aaron is working on a drawing. It's not complete, but there is enough done that Charlie can clearly make out Priscilla's face. "Aaron, that is really nice. I didn't know you can draw."

"Well I couldn't, but I've been taking an art class. I needed to learn something new." He shrugs. "You think she'll like it?"

"She'll love it Aaron."

He grins at her. "Thanks Charlie."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As he leaves the bar where he'd eaten lunch, Bass is walking along when he hears someone call his name. It's Blanchard.

"Hey Frank." Bass says, his stomach suddenly tied in knots.

"Monroe," the older man says with a frown. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good and you?"

"Oh I'm fine, but let's cut the bullshit shall we?"

Bass is startled, but nods, "Sure. What's on your mind?"

"I'm curious if you knew that Miles Matheson's lady friend came to my office to tell me she thinks I should not hire you because you're unfit to serve the great nation of Texas?"

Bass feels a wave of fury roar through his head. "I did not know that, Frank. I'm really sorry." He starts to walk away.

"Hey, did I say I'm done talking to you?" Frank asks with a chuckle.

"Well, you just told me I'm not fit to take that job you have."

"No Sir. I said that's what SHE told me. I am my own man, Bass Monroe, and I didn't particularly like that lady. There is something way off with her. Anyway, I've been out looking for you."

"You have?" Bass feels a finger of hope pushing through the fury.

"Yeah. Wondering if you could start tomorrow?" Blanchard grins at Bass and smacks him on the back.

Bass feels his anger recede as Frank's words sink in. "You're gonna hire me?" he asks with a smile.

"Well yeah. The day I let a crazy woman tell me what to do is the day I go back to my wife." Frank laughs mirthlessly, "And I'll tell you right now Monroe, that ain't ever gonna happen."

He starts to walk away but then pauses to call out over his shoulder, "Come by my office in the morning. I'll show you around and you can get started."

Bass grins broadly, "I'll be there."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That night Charlie and Bass are sitting on the porch again. He has told her about the new job. She talked to him about her day. It is a sweet and comfortable conversation. Sometimes they stop talking, and gaze at each other, talking just with their eyes. After a while they go inside and eat a quick dinner before Charlie pulls him by the hand – taking him to her room.

As the bedroom door swings open, Bass has his arms around Charlie. He is nipping at her neck and she is giggling at something he said.

She stops. "Bass?"

"Yeah?" his face is still buried in her throat.

"Were you in here again?' her voice holds an edge, and Bass looks at her.

"I was here last night. You invited me. Please don't tell me you forgot already. I'm kind of like a vampire. Once you invite me in, I'm here to stay." He starts to lightly bite on her ear lobe.

"No Bass, I'm serious. Someone has been here." She sounds mad and a little worried.

"You think it was your Mom?"

"Who else could it be? She was probably checking to see…"

"If we're sharing a room?" he finishes for her.

"Yeah." Charlie's voice is quiet. They both look around the room. The bedding is rumpled. Charlie's bra is hanging on the bed frame. Bass' shirt and jeans from yesterday are tossed haphazardly on the floor. This is clearly a room being shared.

"Shit." Bass says. "We can talk to Connor first thing in the morning. In the meantime let's make sure everything is locked up tight."

After they've made sure all the windows and doors are secure, they fall into the bed and make up for the hours spent apart during the day. The mood is softer than last night, and it is sweeter. Bass and Charlie are learning each other. They take their time. Unhurried and unrushed, they touch and stroke. He whispers softly in her ear. She looks at him in ways that touch his heart.

Satisfied and exhausted, they finally fall asleep; unaware that they have had an audience.

Rachel has been watching through a gap in the bedroom curtains. Her expression is grim. This can no longer wait until Miles gets home.

She needs to deal with this now.


	5. Chapter 5

Bass visits Connor and makes a statement about their suspected intruder from the night before. Connor says he'll go talk to Rachel again, but Bass can tell he doesn't have much hope in getting to the truth anytime soon.

Then Bass heads to work. This will be his first day and he gets to Blanchard's building early. Frank shows him around. The place honestly isn't much but both Frank and Bass have their own small offices. There is additionally a reception area and a receptionist named Myrtle who is pushing sixty and has the personality of a grouchy cactus.

Bass grins, "I kind of expected you to have a very different kind of secretary."

Frank shakes his head sadly, "I used to hire only cute young things. Trouble was that the cute ones always quit when I'd try to play. I ran out of girls even willing to apply to work here. Myrtle is my sister. She needed a job and I needed a secretary who I wasn't tempted to chase around the desk." Blanchard shrugs, "It was sort of win-win I guess."

"I'm actually glad. Myrtle is perfect."

"Well no Bass. She's not perfect at all. She's just an awful human being to be perfectly honest, but she's okay as a receptionist… sometimes anyway. You'll see."

Bass laughs. "Well I think she's perfect because my Charlie will appreciate Myrtle a lot more than one of those cute gals you used to hire."

Frank nods, "Oh I see. Charlie huh? Figured you for a ladies' man."

"Oh, I am Frank. I am – but just the one lady. Her name is Charlotte. Charlotte Matheson. Everyone calls her Charlie."

"Matheson? Related to Miles and his crazy lady?"

Bass nods, frowning now. "She is Miles' niece. The crazy lady is her mom."

"That why she doesn't want you working for me?"

Bass' eyes turn stony, "Just one of many reasons Frank…one of many. I'll make sure you aren't sorry you hired me though."

"Sounds good to me, Son. Let's get to work."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Charlie is between lessons at the Academy when Rachel approaches.

"What do you want?"

"Charlie, I'm worried about you. That's all. I want you to know that I'm here for you if you need me."

"I don't need you Mom. I have Bass."

Rachel bristles, "Well at some point that deadbeat will show his true colors. You'll see. When you do, you'll come to me and know that I always had your best intentions at heart."

"I know his true colors Mom. I've seen them all." She smiles a little at Rachel's grieved expression. "And as for him being a deadbeat, he just started a new job today so I think that's not really an issue."

"New job where?" Rachel sounds truly irritated about this news.

Charlie senses that she's already said too much and shakes her head. "I gotta go." She turns and walks away, ignoring Rachel's demands that she return to finish talking. Charlie does look over her shoulder once, and feels a shiver of trepidation at the oddly determined look on her Mother's face.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After a quick pit stop at Big Esther's for a small bag of food, Charlie goes to Blanchard's office. She peeks in and sees a surly looking woman behind the reception desk.

"Hello there. I'm looking for Bass Monroe." She flashes a smile before glancing around.

"He's not here." The old lady says gruffly before turning her back on Charlie.

"Uh Okay." Charlie is confused and a little disappointed, but turns to leave. She stops when she hears a man's voice behind her.

"Myrtle that is just not nice. He's here Doll. Let me just tell him he has company." Charlie turns to see Frank Blanchard. She has never met him personally but does remember seeing him at the church the night Bass had kidnapped the fake US President.

"Thanks." She says turning her smile his way.

Frank pauses, returning her smile with a flirty one of his own, "You must be Charlie?" she nods and he continues, "Aren't you just the sweetest thing? No wonder Bass is all googley eyed over you." He grins at her and shoots Myrtle a withering look when the old receptionist loudly grunts in disapproval. "Come along with me Doll."

"Googley eyed, huh?" she asks as he motions for her to follow him down a narrow hallway. He opens a door and ushers her inside.

As she passes by him, he leans in close, "Googley eyed indeed. Never saw a man so smitten with a gal before." Then in a louder voice he says, "Bass, your lady is here. Looks like she brought lunch but if you are half as smart as I think you are, you'll squeeze in a nooner as well." Frank cackles as he shuts the door. They can still hear him laughing as his footsteps fade down the hall.

Charlie moves into the room and catches her breath. Bass is wearing a button down shirt again. He looks handsome and powerful sitting behind a large desk. He looks up from a stack of papers he's been reviewing. He's wearing reading glasses perched on the end of his nose and when he smiles at her, Charlie's heart melts. "Hi." He says simply.

"Hey." Her reply is soft. She walks to him and leans in for a kiss. "I brought lunch."

"Mmmm" Bass pulls her down onto his lap and nuzzles her neck, "Good cause I'm hungry."

"Glad to hear it. Big Esther packed a lot."

"I wasn't talking about food." Bass says, biting lightly at her ear.

"I'm pretty sure your boss wouldn't like it if we did more than eat lunch."

Bass pulls back and laughs, "So I guess you don't know what a nooner is, huh?" Charlie shakes her head, and laughs when he smirks suggestively. "Let's eat the food, and then I'll show you."

They chat over venison sandwiches, apples and hard cheese. Charlie has also brought a thermos of tea and they each drink a glass to wash down their lunch. She tells him about her run-in with Rachel. He shakes his head in frustration, not sure what to do about her. He tells her about his conversation with Connor and his suspicion that Connor doesn't think he'll be able to catch her doing anything wrong.

Bass then tells Charlie about his new job so far. "Frank isn't much for numbers, so he's got me going through a lot of records and ledgers." Bass motions to the stacks of paper and leather bound notebooks on his desk. He's smiling.

"You like it, don't you?" Charlie can't help but smile back. His excitement is clear.

"Well, yeah. There was a lot about running the Republic that wasn't my thing and that ended up not being very healthy for me mentally." He frowns at the memory, "but I was always really good at math and I missed the number crunching." Bass' grin is back. "You know, I bet if the blackout hadn't happened, I'd have become an accountant after leaving the Marines."

"I have no idea what an accountant is, but I'm really glad you found a job that you like." Now that their lunch is cleared, she's sitting on the edge of his desk. "What else will you be doing?"

"Well Frank has a tendency to ruffle people's feathers, so there will also be a certain amount of following him around and calming people down. I can be a charmer when I want to be, so that part shouldn't be bad either." He laughs, and his little crow's feet crinkle the edges of his eyes. "And when he's out of town, I'll do his usual stuff too. There will be a lot of meetings with visiting government officials…that sort of thing."

"You're going to be so good at this." Charlie looks at him with pride in her eyes, and Bass feels his heart lurch. Her support means more than he would ever be able to say.

They sit in silence for a moment, just staring at each other. It is a comfortable silence, but Bass breaks it after a while, "So, Charlie," he says glancing at an old clock on a book shelf. "Seems like we have about half an hour left. Still want me to show you what a nooner is?" His grin is full of mischief.

She can't help the blush that creeps up her cheeks, "I think I've figured it out, but yeah. Show me."

Bass' eyes go dark. Still sitting in his desk chair, he reaches for one of her feet. Carefully he unties and removes a boot before repeating the steps with the other foot. "Stand up." He says gruffly. She complies, hopping down from her perch on the desk- already feeling a building need within. He unfastens her belt and her pants and soon she is naked from the waist down.

"This feels…uneven, somehow." She says with a shy smile. "You still have all your clothes on."

He nods, with a laugh. "The trick to a successful nooner…" he begins to suck lightly at her throat, "is it has to happen pretty fast…." He lifts her up to sit on the desk once more. "…while still being good for all parties involved." His hands are roaming now. The cold smooth wood feels strange under her ass, but when he moves to stand between her thighs, she forgets about the desk completely and wraps her legs around him. Bass begins to kiss her mouth hungrily, searching her depths with his tongue. She moans into his mouth as he cups her butt cheeks, pulling her closer to him. Charlie is already wet, aching with need. She can feel his growing erection through the fabric of his pants. He reaches down to explore her slick center and she cries out when he pushes two fingers inside her opening and begins to stroke. She doesn't let up on the kiss, but reaches down and begins to unfasten his belt. When it is dangling, she unbuttons his jeans and pushes them down, releasing his cock. She grinds against him, wanting his dick buried deep inside. Charlie grasps him tightly with her legs and he doesn't hesitate. Sliding into her with one thrust, he pauses to get a better grip on her hips before pulling out and thrusting again, setting a pace that is slow but steady.

Charlie can feel the tension building within her, and it is getting more intense by the moment. She wants more. "Faster." She begs.

"No. Not yet." he whispers into her ear, licking and then biting at it playfully. He continues to tantalize her with his deep steady movements. She arches back, putting one hand on the desk for leverage. With the other hand, she reaches down to stroke her clit. He still has hold of her hips, keeping her close to the edge of the desk. She looks at him and sees that he's watching where they are joined. When he looks up at her again, she's afraid that she might catch fire from the heat she sees there. She moves against him, trying to pull him in deeper. He growls and finally picks up the tempo, rocking faster and harder, propelling them both to orgasm. She comes first and starts to cry out. He smashes his mouth to hers, swallowing the cry. Bass rocks into her forcefully as the waves of her release grip him tightly. He's very close himself, and pulls out with an anguished cry of his own. She sees his expression and wants nothing more than to give him the same pleasure he has just given her. Charlie hops down from the desk and falls to her knees, taking him deep in her mouth. Bass buries his hands in her hair, tilting her head back slightly so that he can watch as she sucks him. She looks up and their eyes lock. He comes in a rush and she takes it all. When she's milked him of every drop, she releases his cock and licks her lips with a smile.

Standing again, she reaches up to kiss him softly. "So, nooners are fun." She says with a mischievous grin.

Bass throws his head back and laughs loudly. He pulls Charlie close and buries his face in her hair. "You Charlie. You are fun."

They both make themselves presentable and Charlie gathers her things before saying goodbye. "I was thinking maybe we should do something different tonight."

"Like what?" he asks, curious.

"Well Big Esther says that she's had a big dip in profits since we stopped drinking at the bar. Maybe we could go have a few before we go home?"

Bass laughs as he walks her to the door. "Sounds good to me. I'll get off around 7. Meet you there?"

"Can hardly wait." She smiles, leaning up for a kiss.

"Same here Charlie. Same here."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Maxine DuBois has been in the pawn business since Nixon was president of the "Old USA" as she calls it. She's dealt with her share of oddballs over the years. She has outlived five husbands: two before the blackout and three after. Two of the five died because she killed them herself. Maxine is tough as nails. There is little that scares her.

When the pretty blond lady walks into Maxine's pawn shop, she initially assumes the woman is in the market for a piece of jewelry or maybe some copper cooking pots (typical favorites among the newly established working class of Willoughby). The blond lady surprises Maxine with her cold smile that doesn't reach her eyes, but it is the request that sets the old woman's teeth on edge. Or maybe not the request itself – after all, the item in question is commonly traded for or purchased.

No, it's the tone of her voice….something is not right about it.

"I need a gun with a scope and some ammo please." The cold blond woman has strange twitchy lips. Maxine almost refuses just because of the weird vibe she's getting off the visitor. She almost says she doesn't carry such an item… almost.

But money is money.

As Maxine hands over a carefully wrapped package and takes the payment offered by the odd blond woman; she shivers a little. The door swings closed as the customer makes her way across the street. The bells that hang from the shop's door are still ringing quietly as Maxine does something she hasn't thought to do in years – maybe even since that crook Nixon was in office. She crosses herself and says a little prayer.

She says a prayer for whatever or whoever that blond lady might be hunting for tonight.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Big Esther is thrilled to see Bass and Charlie sitting in their old favorite places at the bar. Other than the fact that they aren't ordering much, and can't keep their hands off each other – it's just like old times.

She never did have a family of her own, and had grown very fond of these two. "So, when are you two going to make all this official?"

"All what official?" Charlie asks blankly.

Big Esther motions from one to the other, "You two. You gonna get hitched? People are doing that again now that we're getting a new government and civilization is returning and all that."

Charlie glances at Bass and sees a guarded expression on his face. "I don't know about that Big E, kind of jumping the gun a little I think." Bass says with a frown.

Charlie changes the subject, but has to admit that his obvious distaste at the thought of marrying her cuts deeper than she'd have expected.

They drink a couple more rounds and then head out into the night.

"What's wrong?" he asks. He knows her moods by now and she's pissed about something.

"Nothing." Charlie says without emotion.

Bass stops, and grabs Charlie's hand to pull her to a stop as well. "I have not made it this far in life to not know that when a woman says nothing is wrong, she actually means something is very wrong." He gently holds both of her hands now, rubbing small circles into her palms.

She doesn't say anything at first, but eventually lets out a deep sigh. "It's stupid. I'm not mad or anything. Really."

"Tell me the truth Charlie. Come on."

"Fine. You want to know what's wrong? Well so do I." he can hear the frustration in her voice.

"I don't understand." He says carefully, not wanting to make things worse, but honestly not having a clue what's bugging her.

"Why did you act so put out at the idea of marrying me?" Her breathing is labored. He realizes she's on the verge of tears. "What's wrong with me?"

"I'm… I don't…" He doesn't even know what to say, "Nothing is wrong with you Charlie. It never occurred to me that you'd want to. I was trying to save you from saying so yourself." He squeezes her hands in his. "Are you saying that you want to get married?" Bass feels a hammering in his chest.

"Well, I don't even know." She sniffs. "I'd just like to think it's not something so repulsive to you that you just discount the idea out of hand."

Bass pulls her into his arms and kisses the top of her head. "Nothing about you or spending time with you or even marrying you… is repulsive to me. Okay?" She nods into his chest but doesn't say anything. He continues, "I was married once before, you know that…"

"Shelly." Charlie says quietly, her voice almost a whisper.

"Yeah, Shelly." He pauses for a moment. "I have no problem with the idea of getting married again someday. You and I… we've been together for just a few weeks. All I was saying to Big E is that this is a little early. That's all. Okay?"

"How long?"

"How long what?"

"How long were you with Shelly before you married her?"

"Uh," he thinks for a moment, remembering back. "I don't remember."

She hears the lie in his voice. "Yes you do. How long?"

Bass sighs heavily, "A couple months. She figured out she was pregnant. So we got married."

Charlie pulls away from him and starts to walk. He follows. She doesn't say anything.

"Are you mad at me because I got married fifteen years ago?"

"Nope."

"Are you mad that I only knew her a couple months first?"

"Nope."

Bass is losing his patience. "What the hell, Charlie? Why are you mad? And do NOT tell me you aren't, because I can tell you are!"

She turns on him, marches right up till they are face to face in the moonlight. She pushes a finger into his chest, "I am mad. I'm mad because I feel like your past is going to dictate our future. I'm mad because I'm not sure you think you'll be able to love again. To love me." She turns again, walking away from a very shocked Bass Monroe.

He recovers quickly, and follows grabbing her arm to stop her. She turns to face him again. "Charlie, what are you saying?" his voice is hoarse. Nervously he runs a hand through his curls.

"I'm saying," she pauses to wipe a tear from her cheek, "that I think I'm falling for you, but I have no idea if you'll ever be able to feel the same way for me. I have no idea if all you want from me is nooners and Fifty Shades of Grey."

Bass doesn't answer Charlie with words. He pulls her tight to his chest and crushes her mouth with his. He tastes the salty tears on her lips as they part for him. His hands run up and down her back, pulling her closer yet. They separate breathlessly. Bass bites lightly at her lip, sucking it through his teeth before pressing soft kisses along her brow.

"And I'm saying," he whispers into her hair, "I want nooners with you and I want Fifty Shades of Grey with you, but you aren't the only one falling here Charlie. This isn't just about sex, okay?"

Charlie leans into him, her mouth slowly curling into a smile. "You're falling for me Bass?"

"Yeah, I think I am."

"I like that. I like that a lot."

He chuckles, "I like that we're doing it together, Charlie. You and me together."

"Let's get home so we can do some of that other stuff together too." She grins before taking his lips in a promising kiss.

"Sounds good to me." He says. They are both laughing as he grabs her hand and drags her toward the little house they share.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

She watches them without emotion. She notes the way they touch and smile. She sees the way they stop to kiss or snuggle. She watches detached, as if they are strangers.

She inspects the gun she bought earlier from Maxine. She has already cleaned it and loaded it just as she'd learned from Ben years ago.

She is ready.

She thinks briefly of Miles. He won't be happy that she's taken matters into her own hands, but eventually he'll understand. Bass is poison. He is poisoning Charlie. He has to die.

Rachel is a good shot. She just hopes she's good enough. She really doesn't want to lose another child.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They are having a hard time keeping their hands off each other as they make their way up the stairs to the porch. He pauses to unlock the front door. Charlie jumps on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. They are laughing as they walk into the house. Bass shrugs her off his back long enough to light a lantern. They kiss and touch their way to Charlie's bedroom where Bass sets down the lantern, casting the room with shadowy light.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rachel raises the gun and looks through the site. She sees them clearly through the gap in the curtains. The lantern was a lucky break. She sees his grin. She sees her laugh. Hate coils in her belly as she readies to shoot.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Living together can be difficult.

New roommates often have issues seeing eye to eye. Charlie and Bass are no different. He gripes at her when she doesn't burn the trash. She growls at him every time he falls asleep smoking a cigar. He thinks she spends entirely too much time in the tub. She hates that he leaves his laundry lying wherever it falls.

They are not thinking about any of these things when it happens.

They are thinking about falling in love.

They are thinking about the things they plan to do to each other.

They are laughing and kissing and relishing the moment.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Two very important things happen at exactly the same time.

A shot rings out. Glass shatters. Wood splinters.

And

Bass Monroe trips over the blue jeans he'd thrown on the floor the night before, taking Charlie down with him.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the moments that follow, Bass is sure of very little. He knows someone is shooting at them. He knows he is alive. He knows Charlie is not moving. He knows there is blood.

Bass looks at her and he knows one more thing beyond a shadow of a doubt: he loves Charlie Matheson with all his heart and he cannot lose her now.

**Author's Note: I know. I know. Don't hate me. You know I'll make it up to you. A new chap should be up this time next week if not earlier. Review if you have a minute.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Sorry about the chap 5 cliffhanger. Hopefully this longer chapter will make up for it. **

"Get off me you big oaf. I can't breathe." Charlie is gasping as Bass scrambles to lift his body from hers while still shielding her from the window. So far there have been no more shots, but he doesn't want to assume they are safe just yet.

He leans in and kisses her gratefully. "I thought you were dead. Shit Charlie, are you okay?" He's still shaking from the fear of losing her. He runs his hands over her body, looking for the source of the blood.

"Bass?" Charlie sounds worried. "I'm fine, but your head? You're bleeding. Bass, you're bleeding a lot." Worry is morphing into panic as Charlie sees the thick blood that is gradually matting Bass' curls and slipping slowly down his neck.

He sits up a little, presses his fingers to the back of his head and brings them to his line of vision. They are dripping with blood. "Oh hell." He says with a little sigh, before passing out cold.

"Help!" Charlie screams, as she cradles him in her arms. She grabs the jeans he'd tripped on earlier and presses them against the wound in the back of his head. "Help us!" she yells again, tears now streaming hotly down her face. Surely someone hears her. Someone has to hear her.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rachel carefully tucks the gun into the hiding place she had prepared, and closes the open window she'd used to shoot through. As soon as she hears her daughter's strangled cries for help, she grins. Rachel hadn't been sure if she'd hit him or not. They'd gone down so fast; she hadn't known who was hit until she heard the screams. Charlie sounds scared, but not hurt. Rachel lets out a contented sigh. Finally, a plan is working out just as she'd hoped.

Her work here is done. She picks up the bag she'd packed earlier and quietly lets herself out of the house. She'll come back after the excitement has died down. By then, Charlie will see how much she needs her Mom, and she'll recognize what a mistake this whole Bass business has been.

Until then, she'll lay low.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Myrtle Blanchard is walking home from a day at Frank's office. Myrtle loves her brother, but sometimes that big jackass just gets on her nerves. His new co-worker though – oh my. She may be sixty-six, but Myrtle is still all woman, and that Bass Monroe – he is all man. She pulls a paper fan from her big black bag and fans herself briskly. She'd hated her job till he'd shown up. Now, she figures it's not so bad.

Myrtle wasn't always a cantankerous old lady. Back in her day, she'd been a real looker. She'd had a line of guys asking her out for dates. One year she'd even been the first runner-up in the county fair beauty queen pageant. She still wonders how different her life would have been if she'd married one of those boys from town instead of joining the Army as a medic. So many decisions in life seem small when you make them, but look like mountains when viewed with hindsight. The days of Myrtle's youth have long since passed of course, but she still remembers the appreciative looks she'd always gotten from the fellas back in her glory days.

She's smiling a little to herself when she hears someone yelling for help. She may be a grouchy old lady now, but she spent decades caring for sick and injured soldiers. That kind of training doesn't go away. Myrtle isn't as spry as she once was, but she hustles toward the cries without a second thought.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Bass regains consciousness, he slowly becomes aware of several things. He's lying on their bedroom floor. Charlie is crying and is clearly very worried about him. His head hurts like Wile E. Coyote's after a run-in with the Road Runner, and Frank's grouchy secretary is smiling at him while she wraps his head with a bandage.

"What the hell is going on?" Bass asks, trying to sit up. Grouchy Secretary – for the life of him he can't remember her name – pushes him back down easily. Either she is way stronger than she looks or Bass is far more injured than he'd thought.

Charlie is at his side in a heartbeat, "Bass, you're going to be okay." She's stroking his cheek with one hand looking into his eyes. "Myrtle is helping you. She used to be a nurse."

"Army Medic." Myrtle corrects Charlie sharply, before turning her warmest smile back on Bass. "You're going to be fine Mr. Monroe. It was just a scratch really, but head wounds tend to bleed like the dickens." The old lady is almost purring at him.

Bass' head throbs but he can't help but smile up at Myrtle who is so clearly flirting with him. "Thank you Ms. Blanchard. I do appreciate your help."

"Oh," the older lady's face reddens slightly, "You should call me Myrtle." Then she turns to get something from her bag.

While Myrtle's back is turned, Bass looks over at Charlie and winks. She rolls her eyes at him, but grins before leaning in to kiss his lips.

"I'm so glad you are okay. I thought you were dead." Charlie runs her hands across his chest as if to reassure herself that he's still with her.

"I know how you feel. I thought you were dead first." Bass takes her roaming hands and holds them over his heart. "My head hurts, but I'm sure glad you're here. I don't ever want to lose you."

Connor rushes into the room then, his eyes searching. "Dad!" he cries and drops to his knees next to Bass. "Are you okay? Nichols just told me you were hurt. What happened?"

"Someone shot him." Myrtle supplies helpfully, looking appreciatively back and forth from Bass to Connor before reaching once again for her little paper fan. "He'll be okay though."

"Not someone." Charlie says with a frown. "My Mom."

"You can't be sure of that." Connor says, but there is no conviction in his words. "Has anyone seen her since this happened?"

Charlie shrugs. "I haven't left his side since he got hit. Myrtle came in because she heard me screaming and wanted to help."

Myrtle nods in agreement. "She was yelling so loudly, I heard her almost a block away. Your man Nichols came in right after I did. When he saw I could take care of Mr. Monroe, he went to get you."

Connor looks at the woman for a minute, taking in the fact that she's totally scoping out his old man. He chuckles a little before replying, "Well, thank you Myrtle. We all sure appreciate how you've helped my Dad. Can we walk you home?"

She shakes her head, "Not till I know my patient is being cared for." Her voice is grave.

"I'll take care of him." Charlie offers.

Myrtle shakes her head again, "No, dear. I mean cared for by a professional." Clearly she doesn't think much of Charlie's ability to take care of Bass.

As if on cue, Dr. Gene Porter comes bustling in. "Charlie, are you all right?"

"Grandpa!" Charlie runs to him and gives him a warm hug. "I'm fine. Bass got hurt, but we think he's going to be okay."

"Hello Gene." Myrtle's eyes have lit up like the fourth of July. She's smoothing her hair down nervously. Bass, Charlie and Connor are both staring as Myrtle struggles to gain her composure.

"Myrtle Blanchard?" Gene asks with a surprised smile. "Haven't seen you in years. How are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine." Myrtle is flushed again. "Just happened to be walking by when your sweet Granddaughter yelled for help. Of course I had to pitch in. The training just kicks in when there's an emergency." She bats her eyelashes at him a bit then. You know how it is."

Charlie's eyes go wide as she looks at Bass in amused shock, mouthing "Sweet granddaughter?" so only he can see. Bass starts to laugh, but stops with a moan as his head starts to throb once again.

Gene says he'll check Bass over just to be safe. Myrtle sticks around to assist him. Connor and Charlie go outside. "Okay Charlie, tell me exactly what happened."

Charlie looks across the street to her Mom's house. "She shot him." Charlie says quietly.

"No. Don't tell me what you think happened. What do you remember?"

She takes a deep breath, "We came home. We walked inside. Bass lit a lantern. He carried it into our room…" she looks at Connor nervously. He shrugs to show he isn't bothered. "and he sat the lantern down and then I'm not sure… I think he tripped. I'm positive that we were falling AS the shot rang out. He fell on top of me. Then I told him to get off because I couldn't breathe and then I saw the blood and he saw the blood and then he passed out. That's when I started screaming." She looks into Connor's eyes, "That's what I remember."

He nods thoughtfully.

"That's what I remember." Charlie repeats. "but my Mom shot your Dad. That's what _I know_. You need to find her Connor. This has to stop." Then she turns to go back inside.

Connor looks toward the dark home across the street now. Connor's deputy Nichols emerges from the house and catches Connor's eye before shaking his head. Shit. Rachel Matheson is in the wind.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next morning, Charlie brings Bass breakfast in bed on a big tray. Next to his eggs, bacon and toast is a glass of orange juice. Bass is propped up in bed. His head still hurts, but its better thanks to something Gene had given him before leaving in the early hours of the morning.

"What is this?" Bass asks, his expression skeptical.

"Breakfast in bed. I thought you'd like it." Charlie pouts a little.

"Well I do, but I'm confused." He's trying hard not to smile. Charlie crosses her arms defensively across her chest. She knows what's coming next.

"This looks wonderful and smells like heaven, but you Charlie did not make this." He's grinning as he spoons a big bite of steaming eggs into his mouth before closing his eyes to truly appreciate the flavor.

"Why do you say that?" she asks, but now she's laughing too.

He swallows down the eggs and says, "Charlie you are beautiful, and smart. You are an amazing hunter, and tracker. You are a hellion in bed." He smirks suggestively, "BUT you my dear, cannot cook. At all." With that, he takes another big bite, grinning as he chews.

From the kitchen they hear a loud guffaw of laughter. "That's why she asked me to bring something by for you." Big Esther walks in with a vase of daisies to add to his breakfast platter. "How you doing tough guy? You got everybody worried."

"I'm all right. Way better now that I got some of your cooking Big E. This is amazing."

"Well, just know that I don't do breakfast house calls for just anybody." She pinches his cheek and frowns. "Seriously Bass, get better soon. Okay? Charlie here has been beside herself with worry. We all have." Big Esther leaves.

Charlie leans down to give him a kiss before stealing a piece of his bacon.

"Hey. Bring that back. Big Esther made that bacon for ME."

Charlie is already walking to the bedroom door. She looks back at him with a smile that melts his heart, and asks, "First Myrtle and now Big Esther… Is there any old lady in this town that you don't have wrapped around your little finger?"

He frowns as if this question requires a lot of thought, "Nope." He grins. "They all love me."

She takes a big bite of the pilfered bacon before nodding ever so slightly and rewarding him with a big Charlie smile, "Well they aren't the only ones, you know." And then she's out the door.

Bass shakes his head and grins. How did he get so lucky? Then he remembers the bullet wound on the back of his head and considers just how lucky he truly is. He finishes his breakfast in silence, staring at the window with the shattered glass.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Later that day, Frank stops by to check on Bass. He settles into Charlie's kitchen chair that she's brought into their bedroom so Bass can have visitors.

"Myrtle gave me the basic details Monroe. Glad you're gonna be okay." He smiles awkwardly. Frank Blanchard isn't the best at conveying empathy. "When do you think you might be back to work?"

Bass chuckles, "I'd guess tomorrow, but I might not be in top form right away."

"No hurry. I was just curious. Anything I can do to help catch the person who did this?"

Bass shakes his head slowly, wincing at the sharp pain that shoots through his head. "We have a pretty good idea of who did it, but she's run off who knows where. I'm worried about Charlie. I need to remember to ask Connor for a guard for her."

Frank is relieved. Finally something he can help with. "Let me take care of that Bass. I have the Texas Rangers at my beck and call. Might as well take advantage of them." He stands then and heads for the door. Before leaving, he turns and Bass sees a spark of anger in the older man's eyes.

"What is it Frank?" Bass asks curiously.

"It was that crazy lady that lives with Miles, wasn't it?" When Bass nods, Frank smiles coldly. "Well, first of all, what an awful human being. Who puts their own child in that kind of danger? Crazy bitch."

Bass nods. He couldn't agree more. "And?" ha probes.

"Huh?" Frank asks, distracted.

"You said 'first of all'… what is second?"

Frank shrugs, but his expression is grim. "Ah, I just wondered if she knows about your new job? Wondering if she knows the punishment for attempting to murder a member of the Texas government?"

Bass feels a chill. "What is the punishment Frank?" but in his heart he already knows. After all, if anyone fully understands the lengths Texas will go to for 'justice', it is Bass Monroe.

"Ah, she'll hang Bass. That crazy bitch will hang." And then Frank is gone.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rachel is sipping a beer at a seedy bar in nearby Arnette Tx, when she overhears the latest gossip. Two old guys are chatting over drinks. One is tall and lanky. The other is squat with flaming red hair.

"You hear about Blanchard's man?" Red asks his companion.

"Nah, what happened?" Tall and lanky is bored, but doing his best to hold up his end of the conversation.

"He was killed by his mother-in-law! Can you even imagine?"

Rachel's heart skips a beat. She tries to hide her grin behind the rim of her glass.

Tall and Lanky remembers his own horrible excuse for a human being Mother in law, and says, "Well I reckon I can imagine it. Too bad though." He takes a deep drink, "They catch her yet?"

"No Sir. She's run off but the Rangers are on her tail. They won't take well to folks trying to kill the Governor's right hand man."

"Well, she better enjoy her freedom while she can. Them Rangers mean business."

"Yay-up, and their business will surely include tying her up by her neck." Red chortles.

Rachel's smile has faded. She is digesting the new information. Bass' job was evidently much more high profile than she'd thought. Returning to Willoughby might not even be feasible. _Damn. At least he's dead_, she thinks. That will make never going home a little easier to take.

As if reading her mind, the bartender interrupts the two men. "Ya got it all wrong. Blanchard's man ain't dead. Got wounded a bit, but he's gonna be right as rain. Not that it matters. Texas don't like it when ya kill their guys and they don't like it then you TRY to kill their guys. That lady's gonna swing either way."

Rachel can't believe what she's hearing. Not dead? Bass is not dead? This can't be. She was so sure things were finally working her way. And all this hanging business is ridiculous. Rachel takes a deep calming breath, and reminds herself not to panic. If she's going to be executed just for trying to kill him - regardless of if he lives or dies, she has no choice.

Rachel stands, tosses her payment on the bar and leaves.

It's time to get back to Willoughby and finish what she started.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bass wakes feeling much better. His head still throbs dully, but the pain barely registers. Having Charlie in his arms and hearing her soft even breathing is a far more effective painkiller than anything Gene might be able to prescribe.

He pulls her closer, kissing her temple softly. "Good morning Charlie." His voice is hardly more than a whisper.

"Mmmm," Charlie cuddles closer, still groggy with sleep. "Mornin Bass." She has almost drifted back to sleep when she jerks fully awake. "Crap. What time is it? I have a class to teach this morning."

"We have some time yet." He nuzzles into her throat, pressing the flesh behind her ear with a soft kiss.

"Bass?" Charlie is almost breathless, "Your head. You're still recovering."

"Well, admittedly I'm no doctor, but I have this theory about recovery." Bass grins against her ear.

"Oh yeah?" Charlie very much wants to hear this theory as she begins to run her hands over his chest in slow steady strokes.

"My theory is this." Bass reaches to cup her breast, softly tweaking the nipple, "I'll get better a lot quicker if I can spend some time self-medicating."

"Oh, and what is your drug of choice Bass? Morphine? Something stronger?"

He slides his hand lower, moving his fingers down over her mound. "My drug of choice is you Charlie. Nothing else comes close to taking care of my needs."

Charlie arches against his hand as he begins to slowly stroke his fingers against her center. "I'd hate… _Oh God_…to slow down…_Don't Stop_…your recovery…_oh hell Bass_."

Bass loves making Charlie come. It is his new most favorite hobby and even with a big wound in the back of his head, he can't help but revel in the way she shudders around his fingers.

"That was so good." She says her voice a soft purr. "Now it's my turn to help you with your recovery." With those words, she moves to straddle him. "Don't move Bass. You need to relax… let me do all the work."

As she begins to move her wet core against the head of his hard dick, he thrusts his hips up. Every time he tries to get closer she raises higher with her thighs, before lowering her dampness to tease him again.

Bass reaches for her hips, trying to pull her onto him, but she resists, laughing coyly. "I said relax." She repeats. When he stills she uses her hand to line him up but then only takes in the head of his throbbing dick. Charlie waits, without moving. She watches as he struggles to stay still as well. He manages – at least mostly, and she rewards him by lowering to envelop a couple more inches of his erection. "How is this for dosage?" she asks "Do you need more or less of your medicine?" Charlie's eyes are hot on his.

Bass moans, "More Charlie. Give me more."

Charlie impales herself on his cock then and he thinks he might die from how hot and wet she is. As she begins to ride him, he knows he won't last long. Bass takes one hand and squeezes her breast softly. Moving his other hand to her sex, he uses the rough pad of his thumb to stroke her clit urgently. She quickens her pace, clearly getting close.

"Get off me Charlie. I'm gonna come."

"Not yet. Not yet. Just a little bit longer."

"Can't wait much longer." Bass groans trying to shove her off.

Charlie grounds down against his cock, riding him for dear life. Her orgasm is so close and she can tell it's going to be more intense than the first one this morning. She looks at his face and sees the urgency and the desperation as he holds back.

She starts to come, convulsing around his dick. She is lost in the feel of him and she's watching through hooded eyes when he loses control as well. Charlie feels him pumping his seed into her depths – it is hot and thick and utterly perfect. She moans as he pulls her down into a kiss.

Now that the deed is done he doesn't see any point in pulling out, and she doesn't seem in any hurry for him to vacate so they remain joined as the kiss deepens.

After a while, she pulls away from his lips. "How's your head? You feeling okay?"

He nods, "Oh yeah, but hey Charlie… I'm sorry about you know… I did try to wait. You just feel too damn good." He looks sheepish.

"Don't be sorry. It felt… it feels…amazing for me too." Lightly she bites at his lower lip. "So amazing."

He slips his tongue through her lips, exploring her mouth before pulling away, "But we can't do that again. We shouldn't." Bass tangles his hands in her hair pulling her back into his kiss. "Seriously Charlie, it's a bad idea."

They kiss and stroke and touch some more, neither worrying about the clock.

Charlie shifts slightly and when she feels his cock stiffening again – still buried inside her heat – she begins to move, slower this time. "Bass…if it's such a bad idea, why does it feel so damn good?" She rolls her hips and he groans – bucking into her movements urgently. They move together in a way that only familiar lovers do. They know their likes and dislikes. When the time comes, this orgasm rips through Charlie like a freight train.

Bass is right there with her, but takes a moment to ask, "You want me to?"

"Yes. God yes." She says hoarsely. Bass grabs Charlie's hips and jerks her to his body, going as deep as he can before spilling inside her for the second time. She collapses onto him; they are both struggling to steady their breathing as their eyes meet.

"Charlie." He strokes her arms tenderly. "Charlie, that was amazing, but you are going to be very late for work if we don't stop now."

"Shit!" she cries out, moving quickly – she is out of bed and pulling on clothes in moments. Suddenly, she stops and sits down beside him. Gingerly, Charlie reaches out to touch his cheek. "Your head Bass? Are you okay?"

He grins at her tiredly. "Oh my head hurts like a son of a bitch, but never has blinding pain been so very, very worth it." He motions her to get out. "Go. I need to sleep. I'm supposed to go to work at noon. If I can get some sleep, maybe I'll even get in earlier."

"Back to work? Are you sure?" Charlie is concerned.

"Asks the woman who just rode me like she's a rodeo queen… twice?" he laughs at the blush that stains her cheeks. "I'm pretty sure I'll be okay. Now go!"

"Fine. I'm going." She leans down and kisses Bass soundly before heading for the door. She is gone before popping her head back around the corner. "Hey?"

"Yes?" he asks with an exasperated laugh.

Her eyes shine and her smile is soft, "I love you Bass Monroe."

Bass' heart pounds and his stomach flutters. When he speaks his voice is barely audible, but his eyes burn into hers, "I love you too Charlotte Matheson."

Sated, exhausted, and madly in love… Bass falls fast asleep almost as soon as Charlie leaves.

She heads to the academy with a grin on her face; her newly appointed Texas Ranger bodyguard following right behind.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rachel buys a long jacket and floppy hat at a little flea market on the outskirts of Willoughby. She tucks her distinctive blond hair under the brim of the hat; and dons the long coat. She slowly makes her way to the neighborhood she and Miles have called home for almost a year. She stands for a few moments in front of Charlie's little house, staring at it. Then she walks closer, and works her way around to the bedroom window. She peeks through the broken glass and past the gently blowing curtains. Bass is asleep, and alone; sprawled on his back on the bed. A sheet is tangled around his body. He looks peaceful.

Rachel smiles grimly and then goes across the street to her old house. She needs some supplies.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Charlie arrives at the academy and sees Aaron. "Hey, how are you? She asks him with a big hug.

"Well, evidently not as good as you are." He answers with a chuckle. "Why the big grin?"

Her eyes lose focus as she remembers their antics from this morning. And then she remembers the way Bass had looked at her when he told her he loved her. Charlie's heart swells. "Oh, I don't know. Sometimes life is just really good, right?"

Aaron watches her silently for a moment as an unexplained wave of unease settles softly over his bones. He pushes the feeling aside and returns her smile. "I'm really glad things are going so well for you Charlie. I really am."

"Thanks Aaron. That means so much to me." Then she leaves him behind, and heads toward a long row of lockers. Her Ranger says he's going to get some coffee from the teachers' lounge and will meet her at her class in a couple minutes. She agrees absently and opens her locker. It is only at this moment that she realizes she's left her bag at home. She'd been in such a hurry when she realized the time that Charlie had rushed out without her books and supplies.

"Well, crap." She mutters, looking around for her Ranger shadow. She doesn't see him and decides it's just as well. Charlie will run home, grab her things and come right back. He probably won't even be done with his first cup of coffee by the time she returns. He probably won't even know she's gone.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bass wakes slowly. His head feels better and he decides before even opening his eyes that he'll go to the office a little earlier than he'd planned. He cleans up a bit and dresses as quickly as he can, all the while the memory of Charlie saying she loves him playing on a loop in his head.

Bass is grinning as he lets himself out the back door. He'll take the shortcut to Frank's and will get there in plenty of time to thank Myrtle for her help once more before he starts to actually work.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Charlie gets home moments after Bass has gone. She peeks in and sees he's already left for the office but knows it's just as well. After all, if he were here, she might never make it back to work. She looks around the little house for her bag. Eventually she remembers that she had it in their room the night before. She goes in there and glances around, not seeing it. She kneels down on the ground to look under the bed. She can't see enough in the dingy light of the bedroom so she lights a lantern and bends back down to continue her search.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rachel sees the lantern light come on in the bedroom of Charlie's house and picks up her pace. Bass must be awake. She has to hurry.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bass gets to Frank's and sees Myrtle at the reception desk. He gives her a tired but genuine smile. "Hello Myrtle. Thank you again for helping us out. Charlie just went on and on about how you were so amazing. I was out for a good bit of it, but I'm still here and that's largely thanks to you."

Myrtle blushes prettily and fans herself with her little paper fan. "Oh Mr. Monroe, it was a pleasure to help. And that Charlie of yours… well, she sure does seem to care for you. She was just beside herself with worry." Myrtle hadn't liked the girl much at first, but knowing she was Gene's family had helped her warm right up to Bass' little lady.

He nods, frowning. "Well we've only just figured out how we feel about each other. Can't bear the thought of losing each other now."

Myrtle doesn't say anything, but she sees it – the sheer love this beautiful man has for his lady. She sighs contentedly. Working here is like living inside one of those old timey Harlequin novels she used to read. Myrtle watches Bass walk toward his office. That Charlie sure is a lucky gal.

Thoughts of Charlie remind Myrtle again of the other beautiful man she's recently become reacquainted with. At the thought of Charlie's Grandpa Gene Porter, Myrtle's heart beats faster. She'd had the biggest crush on him back in high school. Back then, he'd only had eyes for Charlotte Lewis. When he'd married Charlotte, Myrtle had left for the Army, devastated. Now things are different. Gene is a widow and Myrtle is no longer a tongue-tied eighteen year old. This time she'll do something about the way she feels.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rachel sees the light is still shining in the bedroom, but she wants to peek in the window one more time before putting her plan into action. She needs to make sure he's still in there. She's almost to the window when she hears horse hooves coming her way on the street. She only has moments before she'll be seen.

It's now or never.

She carefully lights the rag wedged in the top of the bottle, and throws it through the broken glass. There is a sharp crack as the glass breaks and then a woosh as the fire meets fuel and hungrily sucks in the oxygen it needs to grow.

Rachel turns away from the house, flames already glowing from inside the bedroom Charlie and Bass had shared.

She stops cold when she hears a gun cocking at her back.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bass is sitting at his desk. His head hurts and sometimes he rubs at his temples. The bandage is still wrapped around his skull and it itches. He decides he at least needs to get through this stack of papers. Then maybe he'll call it a day and go home to Charlie. In spite of the headache, he smiles at the thought of her.

He is startled when the door is thrust open and Connor is standing there, panic in his eyes. "Dad, you gotta come with me." He's already turned, knowing Bass will follow.

"What's going on?" Bass asks as he matches Connor's stride.

"Charlie's house is on fire. Nicholls is out there and the Rangers are going. Some locals are trying to put it out. That's really all I know right now."

"Have you told Charlie yet?" Bass asks, suddenly worried about her. She's lost so much. This is going to be rough on her.

Connor turns to face him, holding his gaze. Bass sees the fear in his son's eyes. "That's the thing Dad. We can't find Charlie. She's not at work. The Ranger assigned to her said she's disappeared."

Images from his past overwhelm Bass in this moment. _He's back on his front porch in Jasper, greeting the Highway Patrolman with nothing more than curiosity when he sees the sadness in the stranger's eyes. In moments Bass' life is changed forever as the news that his family is dead sinks in. Then he's in that camp, excited and nervous for Shelly and the baby – never expecting that it will all be torn from him in a moment._ And then he sees Charlie peeking around their bedroom door just this morning – telling him she loves him… This. Can. Not. Happen. Again.

"No." Bass chokes out. "No." and now he's running. The wound in the back of his head is bleeding again and he doesn't notice or care. Bass and Connor almost plow Frank Blanchard down as they exit the building.

"What's the hurry Bass?" Frank knows panic when he sees it, and Monroe is clearly scared out of his wits.

"Can't find Charlie. Her house is on fire." Connor answers. Bass is already running toward home, and won't take time to talk.

"Bass, come back here. Take my horse!" Blanchard yells, holding out the reins as Bass turns and runs back to him, vaulting into the saddle and digging in his heels without saying a word. Connor and Frank watch him ride away at top speed for a moment.

"Got any more of those?" Connor asks.

"Come with me Son. We'll get the wagon and follow right behind him." Frank's expression is grim.

Myrtle has heard the whole conversation, and grabs her black medical bag. "I'm coming too." She says in a gruff voice that will allow no argument.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bass gets to the house in just a couple minutes. Blanchard's horse is indeed fast. Even from blocks away he can see the smoke and by the time he gets there the entire house is engulfed in flame. Bass dismounts just as the roof collapses.

He runs as close as he can get to the inferno. Neighbors and Texas Rangers are running a bucket brigade of sorts from the well two houses down to the house. At this point there is no hope of saving anything. The only hope is in containing the fire to just this one house.

Bass sinks to his knees, an anguished cry rips from his chest and he prays. He prays she isn't in there. He prays that wherever she is, she's safe. He prays for help.

"Hey Bass, over here!" he hears the voice and assumes the head injury is causing him to hallucinate so he ignores it, choosing instead to stare into the fire.

"Bass, you piece of shit – get over here." Bass feels a shiver and looks over his shoulder. Miles is casually leaning against the porch railing of his house across the street. He's motioning for Bass to join him. Bass hesitates; still not sure he's actually seeing his friend or if it's all in his head.

"Jesus Bass, don't be a dick. Get over here now." Then Miles heads into his house as if he doesn't have a care in the world.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bass stands. He is shaky but makes his way across the street. He walks in and sees Miles sitting at his table, nursing a glass of whiskey. Now that they are face to face, Bass is positive that not only is Miles real, he had been close to the fire too at some point. Soot and ash cling to his clothes.

"We can't find Charlie." Bass says, his voice pained. "Did you see her?" Bass doesn't allow Miles time to answer. "She was supposed to go to work and she left and I don't know where she is. I can't lose her Miles. I can't."

"Sit down Bass and take a fucking breath." Miles looks exhausted and sad. "We need to talk."

Bass sits, staring at his oldest friend. "What is it? How bad…" he doesn't finish because Miles has started telling his story.

"I was supposed to stay in Hannibal for another week but, well it was boring. You should have come with. Would have been a lot more fun, but whatever. I just got back and as I was coming up to the house I saw someone throw a fucking Molotov cocktail into Charlie's bedroom window. I ran over and stuck my gun in the person's back and told em to turn around. And they did, and you won't even believe who it was…" Miles shakes his head, still disbelieving it himself.

"Rachel." Bass deadpans, now truly fearing the worst, he sits heavily in the chair opposite Miles.

"Yeah, you knew?"

"What, that she's a crazy psycho bitch? In my defense Miles, I've been telling you that for years, but when she shot me in the head a couple days ago, I was more sure than ever." Bass points to the bandage wrapped around his head.

"Hell Bass. I know she's struggled ever since the tower. Maybe even before." Miles runs a hand through his hair, "I was gone for three weeks, what could have possibly happened to send her over the edge like that?" He is truly confused.

Just then Charlie comes running into the room from somewhere deeper inside the house and vaults herself into Bass' arms. He wraps them around her tightly and begins to sob in relief. Charlie is crying too and then they are kissing, Charlie's hands buried in the hair below Bass' bandage.

"And suddenly it's all becoming clear." Miles says with an angry scowl. "What the hell Bass – you and Charlie?"

Bass pulls from Charlie's kiss, pressing his forehead to hers, looking into her eyes but answering Miles, "Yes Miles, me and Charlie."

Miles grunts and shoves away from the table.

"If you are planning to kill me, can you wait till my head is healed at least?" Bass asks, still not looking away from Charlie's face.

"I'm not going to kill you Bass. Not right now anyway. I got bigger fish to fry than your…" he hesitates, motioning back and forth between Bass and Charlie, "well, whatever the hell this is." Miles stands.

"What bigger fish?" Bass is finally looking at his friend.

"Gotta check on my guest." Miles says gruffly. Then he leaves the room.

"What guest?" Bass asks Charlie.

"It's a long story." Charlie's voice is hoarse and she coughs for a while before she speaks again, "You should probably go in there and see for yourself."

Charlie and Bass follow Miles down the hall, through the back door and across the yard. Ahead of them is an old-fashioned storm cellar. Miles pulls the large rod from the hooks by the door, unlocking it. Then he disappears inside. Bass and Charlie follow. The cellar is dark and damp. One wall is lined with shelves, long empty. The only other thing in the space is Rachel Matheson. Tied and gagged, she sits in a corner where she has been chained to a pipe that juts from the concrete wall. She does not look up at them.

Bass looks at Rachel and then glances over at Miles, cocking an eyebrow at his friend. "So are you sure you want to do THIS again? Locking her up didn't work out so well for us last time…"

Miles shrugs, "Hell, I don't know. Let's just play it by ear."

**Author's Note: I never say it outside of my profile, but as you may have guessed, I don't own any Revolution characters. I rarely create my own, but for some reason this story has inspired me to create three. No, I don't own Bass or Miles or Charlie etc, but Maxine DuBois, Big Esther & Myrtle Blanchard are all mine. If I had the time maybe I'd write a follow up story starring these three… kind of a post-blackout senior citizen Charlie's Angels type of thing…. Haha Seriously that will never happen but I hope you enjoy them here. They are certainly fun to write for.**

**Special note for Stephen King fans out there…. There is a teeny-tiny SK reference in this chapter. First to find it and tell me gets one private message spoiler for any of my stories in progress – you choose the one you want to know about. **

**Thanks to all my reviewers, but a special shout out to BassCharlie this round. It was your comment about liking Frank and his sister in the last chapter that bumped her up to a bigger role in the story. Hope you still like her, because you'll be seeing more of her as this story winds down. haha**


	7. Chapter 7

Miles sits on the stone floor across from where Rachel is chained to the wall. "It was over a long time ago wasn't it? Why didn't I see that?"

"You and me?" Rachel asks. Miles nods and she lets out a big sigh. "We were in love once. It was real, but then everything went wrong. We did things. Then we tried to pretend we hadn't done them. We pretended we hadn't lied to Ben. We pretended you didn't lock me in a dungeon. We pretended you didn't give me to Will Strausser like a sick little birthday present. We pretended that he didn't do things to me."

"We pretended you didn't end up falling for him." Miles' voice is very low.

Rachel snorts. "It was Stockholm syndrome Miles. Will was a sick man, but since he was pretty much the only person allowed in my cell for years – thank you, by the way for that – I grew attached. It sounds crazy now, but at the time, it didn't feel crazy."

Miles sighs, running a hand through his hair.

She takes a deep shaky breath before continuing, "We pretended you didn't leave me there with Bass when you left the Republic behind…"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Charlie and Bass are sitting at Big Ethel's bar, eating scrambled eggs and thick slabs of homemade bread. Both are subdued as they eat, lost in their own thoughts. They had spent the morning at the Constable's office, going over the details surrounding the fire with Connor. Then Bass had stopped by Blanchard's to pick up the things he'd left the day before when he ran to help Charlie.

"I miss my little house." Charlie finally says, frowning.

"I do too. I wish they could have saved some of your stuff."

She shrugs, "Most of the stuff wasn't important. I didn't have a lot of personal possessions."

"You had some nice furniture."

"I did love my bed."

"And the memories we made in it?" He offers with a teasing smirk.

Charlie relaxes a little, smiling, "Luckily my memories are fireproof." She taps her temple lightly. "Got all the good stuff stored right up here."

"I'm glad." He leans in and kisses her softly on the cheek. She reaches up and touches the bandage still wrapped around his head. "I learned a long time ago that stuff doesn't matter. Most everything I had can easily be replaced."

"Most everything?" he asks. "Was there something you can't replace?"

She looks down, seemingly embarrassed. "Yeah, but it's no big deal."

His curiosity is peaked. "No Charlie, what is it?"

"The uh…" she clearly doesn't want to say.

"The what?" he prods.

She sighs, "That 50 Shades book that you'd written in and the extra pages you made. I know it's not like a love letter or whatever, but it's the only thing you've ever given me, and it was special."

He can't help but grin, and pulls her right off her barstool and into his arms. "Charlie if you wanted love letters, all you had to do was ask."

She laughs then. "I don't think it would be the same if I asked for them."

"I have a surprise for you. It's not a love letter, but hopefully it will work just as well."

"What is it?"

He reaches into the leather bag he'd picked up at his office. "Is this what you were looking for?" In his hands is her book with the extra pages sticking out at the back.

"Bass? Where was it?" Charlie's eyes shine brightly.

"I had taken it to work because I wanted to add to it. I just hadn't had time yet. Anyway it was sitting at my desk when I heard your place was on fire."

"Oh Bass." Her voice is soft and her smile is wide.

He sees tears well up in Charlie's eyes and he hugs her tighter. "Damn Matheson. I had no idea you were this in love with your porn."

"It's not the porn I'm in love with and you know it." She punches him playfully and then he leans in to give her another kiss.

Bass remembers he has news, and pulls back. "I almost forgot. We have a place to stay."

"We do?" She can't hide the excitement. One night on Miles' hard floor was enough. "Where?"

"Frank and Mytrle had an older brother Verne. He died a couple years back and his house is just sitting there unoccupied. Frank said we can stay as long as we need to."

"A real house with a real bed?" she grins.

"Yep."

"I can hardly wait."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Myrtle Blanchard gets off work early. They are expecting Bass to return to the office tomorrow. He needed the day off to deal with the aftermath of the fire. Poor fella, losing his house and fearing for his sweetheart just days after getting shot in the head… she frowns at the thought. She baked a pecan pie for them last night in Frank's big wood burning oven. She just needs to deliver it.

Patting her hair carefully, Myrtle walks up the front steps and knocks on the door. She can't help but smile when the door opens.

"Myrtle, what are you doing here?" Dr. Gene Porter asks in surprise.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Listen Rachel, I thought you were dead. Will showed me a body. Bass said you were dead. I didn't have any reason not to believe them and frankly, it made leaving easier."

"I have a hard time believing you even cared if I was alive or dead. You came down to visit me, what? Once a year? It wasn't like we were still together in any way that mattered by then."

"If I'd known you were alive, I would have taken you with me. Bass knew that. It's why he faked your death."

Rachel glances up in surprise. "Bass didn't fake my death. Will did, but your reasoning is right. Will was pretty attached by then and didn't want me to leave."

"I always thought it was Bass…" Miles is truly surprised.

"By the time Bass did find out I was still alive, you were long gone. He moved me into your old quarters and kept me away from Will for a while. I think he was a little worried about the two of us teaming up against him or something." She shrugs. "It was certainly a better arrangement than where you'd left me."

"So then what happened?" Miles asks, now realizing everything he thought was true isn't.

"Not much for a while. Bass would come around and check on me now and then. He put Jeremy in charge of me in Will's place. Sometimes the two of them would bring a bottle of whiskey and we'd sit around and chat like friends. They were both respectful. Other than the fact that I couldn't leave and I missed my family, life was okay."

Miles closes his eyes, remembering the tiny dank cell he'd left her in for years. "There's one question I can't figure out an answer to." Miles says.

"What?"

"Why forgive me and not Bass? Sounds like he was nice to you. A lot nicer than I was anyway. I don't get it. You are essentially blaming him for doing the same thing I did, but being a gentleman about it."

"I won't forgive him because there was more." She pauses, not meeting his gaze. "Bass was being so kind and I started to wonder if he would maybe release me. Jeremy had mentioned that they were going to come by one night for drinks and I said I really wanted to talk to Bass alone, and would he mind not joining us this one time? Jeremy didn't care. By the time Bass got to my rooms he was already drunk. I seduced him. It wasn't all that difficult. Bass rarely said no to an open invitation, right?"

Miles feels his stomach clench with anxiety. Bass had once hinted around about something happening between him and Rachel, but Miles hadn't wanted details so they'd left it at that.

"Afterwards Bass was all upset, almost in tears. He kept moaning about Emma and being sorry for hurting you again and it was obvious that he wasn't going to free me. After that he didn't even want to see me. For at least a year – maybe more, I didn't see Bass at all. I was Jeremy's responsibility again."

"Then what?"

"Suddenly Bass was back. We both pretended the thing between us had never happened. He still wanted the power but now there was a new intensity to his need for it. He was obsessed. He would do anything to get it back. Shortly after he told me Ben was dead, he sent Will back to me."

"He must not have known that you and Strausser had a thing going. Bass never would have rewarded you by sending in your boyfriend if he was that obsessed with getting back the power."

"No." Rachel frowns, "You're right. He didn't have a clue. He knew Will had a weird attachment to me but he didn't know it had ever been reciprocated." She lets out a long sigh. "Will and I hadn't even been in the same room for a couple years by then, and as soon as I saw him I knew it was all different."

"What do you mean?"

"I wasn't excited to see him. I was sick to my stomach. I didn't want him to touch me."

Miles feels a sense of dread, "Then what happened?"

"Will raped me." She shrugs, as if it's not a big deal, but her voice is shaking. "I screamed and yelled. I called for Bass to help me. I called for Jeremy. The guards had to have heard. They never said a word. Bass never rescued me. Jeremy never came. Nobody did. It went on for what felt like a really long time."

"And then?"

"It wasn't long after that Bass wanted an amplifier and I started working on making a bomb instead. As long as I was working Will couldn't hurt me, but then my kids were there…" Rachel chokes back a sob then, "And Will made some comments to me about doing to Charlie all the things I wasn't willing to do anymore. That's when I knew I had to kill him."

"Will?"

"Yes. He'd went too far."

"I get it. That bastard did awful things to you. He deserved to die and I'm glad you killed him. But why the vendetta against Bass? He didn't rape you."

"No, but he had to have known Miles. I don't believe nobody told him about it. Jeremy must have been standing just outside. He told Bass everything. You know that."

"I know Jeremy was under a lot of pressure. Bass was not himself. You called him obsessed. From what I've heard, and from what I saw of him at the Tower; he was way beyond obsessed. He had totally lost it Rachel. I think Jeremy was probably afraid to tell him anything. No way would have Bass put up with anyone raping you. That's just not him. He didn't know."

Rachel stares at Miles, her expression full of venom. "Of course you would defend him." She says bitterly, "Bass let Strausser back into my life and he let him near my children, knowing what he was capable of. Bass allowed Will to put a gun in my kids' faces. Bass let him do that and he just stood there staring at Charlie like she was something he wanted to eat. And then Bass killed Danny and he seduced Charlie. He's taken everything away from me, Miles. Even you."

"Come on Rachel. Bass didn't kill Danny. Danny jumped into the line of fire. Bass didn't push him into it. Bass didn't kill Ben. Neville did. If he's to blame for their deaths, so am I. I was the one who put out the locate order on Ben. I was the first one to start searching for a way to get the power back. Did he like Charlie all the way back then? I have no idea, but as for me, the truth is that you lost me the minute you put Charlie's life in danger."

Rachel leans her head back against the bricks, "The truth is I shouldn't have forgiven either one of you."

"The truth is none of this would have happened if you and Ben hadn't turned off the damn lights."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Who was at the door?" Charlie asks her Grandpa.

"Myrtle Blanchard. She brought pie for us." He holds it up. "Want a slice?"

She nods, "Yeah, pie sounds good."

They eat their pie in silence for a while. Finally, Charlie pushes her plate away, "So what are we going to do? Miles made it clear that you and I have to decide."

Gene nods, his expression grave. "I hate being put in this position, but I would hate it even more if I were attending your funeral."

"What does that mean? You think we should turn her in?"

"Well, I'm trying to be objective Charlie. If it were anyone else – anyone at all who had tried to hurt you like this - I'd say we turn them in. Why should we treat her differently?"

"Because we love her?"

"Maybe that's not a reason to treat her differently. Maybe that's the reason we have to do what's right here. She isn't being accused of something she didn't do. We both know that. Why should she get to escape consequence? And if we let her go somehow, what's to say she won't try again?"

Charlie feels a shiver run down her spine at the thought of Bass being in constant danger. "You're right Grandpa. We have to turn her in."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Miles and Bass are sitting around Miles' kitchen table.

"So, what are we going to do with Rachel?" Bass looks uncomfortable. "Being the warden didn't really work out so well for me last time. Kind of lost my mind there for a while."

"Ya think?" Miles frowns. He takes a deep drink from his glass, "I don't want to keep her forever Bass, but we need Charlie and Gene to weigh in before we do anything." He pauses, "And for the record, neither one of us was ever very good at being prison guards."

"True. That's what we had Will for." Bass looks sad and distracted, as memories creep in from the past.

"Will Strausser… haven't thought about him in a long time and now he's come up in conversation twice in one day." He sees the questioning look in Bass' eyes. "Rachel and I talked this morning. Will really did a number on her you know – mentally, physically, all of it." Miles is staring at his hands, but then looks up, "Bass, I gotta ask you this because I think it's the key to everything."

"What?" Bass looks worried. "What is it?"

"Did you know Strausser raped Rachel after I left?"

"What?" Now Bass looks stunned. "No. No." he's shaking his head, but sees Miles' expression and realizes this really happened. "You gotta believe me, I had no idea Miles. None. You know we always had a rule about rape. That didn't change when you left. He would have been shot if I'd known." Bass is livid. He punches at the wall angrily, leaving a big dent in the plaster. "Hell, it was around that time that I had Jeremy shot for far less. I was in no condition to be in charge of anybody." Bass presses his forehead against the wall, fighting back tears of regret and rage.

"That's what I thought. It's what I told her. No way you knew. She doesn't care. Still wants to kill you."

"Well, she should. I'd want to kill me too." Bass sounds devastated.

"Hey Bass. We're both to blame here." He too is fighting off emotion. After a few moments of silence, Miles runs his hands across his jaw thoughtfully. "I don't get it though. All this happened so long ago. What triggered her to start this revenge plot against you now?"

"Dating Charlie?" Bass asks, throwing his hands up. He is at a loss.

"No. That's not it. She was blackballing you all over Willoughby and ruining our trip plans and getting you evicted all before that even happened."

Color drains from Bass' face, and he sinks into a kitchen chair, his head in his hands. "I know what it was."

"What?"

"Do you remember that day you were stuck in that basement under a collapsed wall?"

"Kind of hard to forget." Miles says ruefully.

"Yeah, well, we were hunting for you and Rachel and I got into this very heated argument about you…"

"And?"

"And I kissed her."

Miles actually laughs, "Why? You hate her."

"Yeah, that's true but she made some smartass remark about me being pathetic."

Miles groans a little. Bass never has handled criticism well.

"And I mentioned she didn't always think that about me, considering that one time in Philly..." He looks at Miles guiltily.

Miles nods, "Yeah, I know about that."

"Well she made it sound like I'd forced her which was absolutely not true, and I was pissed. Really pissed."

Miles nods again. He knows Bass better than anybody in the world does. He can guess exactly what happened next, but asks anyway. "So then you kissed her with force to show her what force actually felt like?"

Bass nods now. "Shit Brother, if I'd known she's ever been raped – I'd never, ever have done that."

Miles stands. "Probably triggered some really bad memories, and made her associate you with what happened even more than she already did. Shit."

"I'm so sorry. For all of it." Bass says, his voice low.

"You and me both Brother. Don't beat yourself up. We both had a hand in getting her where she is today."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Frank and Myrtle walk through their dead brother's house, and look around fondly. "Verne always was the best of us all." Myrtle says with a little sigh.

"Yeah, he was that." Her brother agrees gruffly.

The house is small, with faded white siding and a matching white picket fence. The house was old long before the blackout, but it is a sweet little place.

"You think they'll like it?" Myrtle asks.

"What's not to like? It's furnished. There are books on the shelves and there's a wood burning stove for cooking and heating. There's an ice box in the kitchen, and there's a fresh water well in the back. They have an extra room for an office or company. I think it's perfect."

She nods, looking around once more. "Anything you want to take out before we go? Any memento you want to keep? I'm taking Mama's wedding china. Not sure why she gave it to Verne to begin with." She huffs slightly.

"Well, there is one thing I'd like to take with me." Frank grins. "It does make me think so fondly of our dear brother Verne."

Myrtle squints her eyes at him. "What is it Frank? You look like you're up to no good."

"I'm not up to anything, Myrtle." He leans down behind the couch to retrieve a box he'd stashed there earlier.

"What is in that box?" she asks accusingly.

"Just a memento of all the times I spent with our brother. I do miss him so. Don't get your panties in a twist."

"Mementos, eh?" She stands on tip toes to glance inside the box. "Oh dear!" she exclaims when she sees the stacks of twenty year old Playboy and Hustler magazines nestled lovingly in the box. "I change my mind. Verne wasn't the best of us all. Clearly I was. He was evidently just as perverted as you are." She is blushing madly as she stomps out of the house.

Frank follows behind with a big grin on his face, his hands tightly grasping his box full of treasures. He does miss Verne, but this big box of girlie magazines will more than help him get over any lingering grief.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bass and Miles sit in silence for a long time. The past and all of the mistakes made there, hangs heavy in the air between them. But also there is a sliver of hope. They will survive this. They have survived worse.

"So you know what's gonna happen if they arrest her?" Bass finally asks.

"She told me that because you are a Texas government official now, they'll probably execute her for trying to kill you, yeah."

They sit in silence for a while. "Ironic, right?" Bass finally asks. "Texas wanted to execute me and she saved me. Now she tries to do what they wanted her to do in the first place… and now they're gonna kill her for it."

"It's a strange fucking world." They drink in silence.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Connor is surprised to see Gene Porter and Charlie at his office door, but welcomes them in. "Dr. Porter, Charlie, What can I help you with?"

"It's more like what we can help you with Connor." Charlie looks tense.

Connor leans back in his office chair and watches the two carefully. Neither is willing to meet his eyes. They both look very sad. "You guys are making me nervous. Is everything okay? Is it my Dad? Is his wound worse than you –"

"No, No." Gene interrupts him with a wary smile. "Monroe is fine. It's Rachel."

Relief floods over Connor. "Rachel? Okay. What about her? I'm sorry to say we haven't been able to locate her. We've looked everywhere, but she's just gone."

Charlie finally looks up and meets Connor's gaze, "I guess you didn't look in Miles' storm cellar then?"

Connor doesn't understand at first, but as realization dawns, he closes his eyes. "She's not down there because she wants to be is she?"

Charlie shakes her head no.

"But she's alive?"

Charlie nods her head yes.

"Is it just Miles keeping her there or is it my Dad too?"

"Well," Gene says carefully, "As you know, they always have worked better as a team..."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hey Miles, I really am sorry this all went to hell like it did. I know you love her."

Miles shrugs. "It's been over for a really long time Bass, but I was too stubborn to admit it. Hell, I should have known something like this would happen. You know, I tried to leave Willoughby after I brought her here? I knew she'd be better off without me. Maybe if I would have left… " Miles trails off.

"There is no way you would have known any of this was coming." Bass takes a drink from his own glass and leans back.

Miles also leans back, looking at his friend, "Speaking of shit I did not see coming…. You and Charlie? What the fuck Bass? I was only gone three weeks."

Bass smiles, grateful for the change in subject, "Yep, me and Charlie. I've never been happier Miles. She is amazing."

"I'm aware that she is a great girl. I'm just not sure I'm a fan of you two together like that."

"Well, maybe for the first time in my life – I do not give a shit what you think. She's the one Miles. I'm done with other women. I love her."

Miles scowls at his oldest friend. "Fine. You love her. I still think it's creepy that you're banging my niece."

Bass empties his glass and stands. "And I think it's precious that you still call her your niece."

Miles gives Bass a glare. "Shut up."

"You know, maybe it's time you told her the truth? Charlie may be on the verge of losing her Mom. Might be a comfort to know she still has a parent around."

"I don't want to talk about that. Not with her. Not with you." Miles takes another drink, his expression dark, "And don't you go saying anything either. If I tell her, it will be on my terms."

"Shit Miles, I've kept your secret this long. Not gonna spill it now. You don't want to talk about it? Fine. Don't. At least think about it though."

Miles shrugs, but Bass can see the wheels turning in his friend's head.

There's a knock on the door and Bass stands to glance through the front window. "Speak of the devil." He grins over his shoulder at Miles. "Our children are here."

"You're a dick." Miles grunts before opening the door and welcoming Charlie and Connor inside.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gene Porter is sitting at Big Ethel's, staring into a glass of whatever they are calling whiskey these days. He takes another sip and scowls. Miles and Monroe go through this stuff like it's Kool-Aid, but it is harsh. Gene misses the smooth taste of 20 year old Scotch. He'd always kept a bottle tucked away in his office for special occasions.

He misses so many things about life before the blackout. The Scotch is just one on a very long list. He misses his wife Charlotte. Though the cutting pain has passed, he still misses her face and her voice and her sweet presence. He misses the comfort of having someone to talk to when he's having a bad day. Gene sighs. He misses his daughter. He misses the version of Rachel that existed before - the version that wasn't broken and beaten and who hadn't suffered through so much. He misses Danny, the grandson he still remembers as just a toddler. He misses hot showers and

He misses it all.

"You look like you could use a friend." Myrtle Blanchard says, as she scoots into the bar stool at Gene's side.

Gene looks at her curiously. He's seen more of Myrtle these last few days than he had in decades. He is surprised to note that he's not at all unhappy to have her here. "Hello Myrtle. Can't promise I'll be good company, but you're right. I could use a friend today."

"How is your family holding up?" she asks after ordering a glass of water from the bartender.

"Oh, not great. My daughter is accused of trying to kill my granddaughter and Monroe. Kind of hard to bounce back from that quickly."

"Did they arrest her yet?" Myrtle asks carefully.

"If they haven't already, they will be doing it soon. I couldn't stick around to watch. Had to get out of there."

She nods. "Maybe you need an attorney?"

Gene looks at her, "You know an attorney? They're kind of hard to come by these days."

"Well, yes. My Uncle Joe still practices law in Austen. He was fighting the death penalty since long before the lights went out. He's terribly old, but still sharp as a tack. He and Frank go round and round every time they are together, but I've always been Uncle Joe's favorite, so if I ask – he'll help."

For the first time in days, Gene feels the tiniest glimmer of hope. He reaches out and puts a hand softly on Myrtle's. "Thank you so much. It would mean the world to me if your Uncle could help Rachel."

Myrtle blushes prettily. "It would be my pleasure, Gene."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Connor is not thrilled about this turn of events. He'd hoped to find Rachel on his own, or that one of his men would do so. Now he'll have her in custody (which is obviously good), but will have to cover for the fact that his Dad and Miles kept her captive like vigilantes (which is obviously bad).

So now he's at Miles' place with Charlie in tow. He is here to arrest Rachel officially. Gene had begged off, claiming he just couldn't watch his daughter be drug off to jail. Charlie being the warrior she is, had no such qualms. He can see she's sad, but she's also determined.

"You doing okay?" he asks as they trail behind Miles and Bass, heading toward the storm cellar.

She shrugs, "Not really. They're gonna lock her away, maybe even execute her. I hate that."

He puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but his Dad glances over his shoulder at them just then and the look he sends his son makes Connor jerk away from Charlie in a hurry.

"There was no easy way out of this one, huh?" he continues.

"No. We talked about letting her go, helping her leave – "

"I'm so not hearing this." Connor growls, cutting her off.

She sends him a death glare not unlike the one he'd just received from his Dad. "BUT," she says carefully, "The risks were just too high." Her expression goes soft as her eyes settle on Bass. "I hate what is happening to my Mom, but if she did something to Bass…" She doesn't have to finish the statement. He gets it.

Connor smiles a little, "You guys are good for each other I think. I'll be proud to call you Mom someday."

For this he gets a hard punch to the ribs, but she's smiling and that makes the pain worth it. He's glad they're happy, and hell if they can make it through this mess, they've got what it takes to make it all the way.

The group reaches the storm cellar and Miles leads Connor down. They remove her restraints and help her to her feet.

"Rachel Matheson, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Sebastian Monroe and Charlotte Matheson and for the act of arson that destroyed Charlotte's home."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Charlie and Bass arrive at the address Frank had scrawled on a small piece of brown paper.

"This is it." Bass says, motioning to the little white house.

The paint is weathered, the shutters are faded from what appears to have been a bright blue long ago. The windows are all intact and the little picket fence that surrounds the yard makes Charlie giggle in delight.

"It's adorable!" she says happily.

Bass can't help but return her smile. Her excitement is contagious. He holds up a gold key. "Ready to go in?"

He unlocks the front door and they go inside. The furniture is old and worn but has been well taken care of. There is a smell in the air. "What is that?" Charlie asks, sniffing curiously.

"Amonia." Myrtle said the place was dusty so she cleaned the whole house before they gave me the key." They toss the few items they brought with them onto the sofa. Their worldly possessions are now truly very few: Bass has his leather work bag. Charlie has a couple changes of clothes she'd borrowed from Priscilla, the Fifty Shades book, and her crossbow which thankfully she'd left at the Academy when she ran home that morning. Other than that, all they have are the clothes on their backs, and each other.

They wander from room to room. Charlie gets very excited at the shelves packed full of books. Bass is happy that the kitchen is very usable with a wood burning cook stove and an old ice box. There is a tiny pantry – long empty, an old bathroom in which there is just enough plumbing in place that they'll be able to drain water after baths. There are two fairly big closets, which they both find amusing. When they get to the first bedroom, Charlie grins. "This is my favorite." She says. The bed is a big four poster made of oak. The bedding is pale blue and it is topped with a green and white quilt. The curtains are white and flowy. Everything is spotless. "She must have cleaned all the linens too." Charlie says with a happy sigh.

Bass tugs at her arm, "Let's see the rest. We'll have plenty of time in here later. I promise." He grins down at her and she leans up to give him a big kiss, before they walk hand in hand down the hall to the last door. This is a small room. It holds a narrow bed, a dresser and a desk.

On one wall there is a long shelf lined with old magazines. Two shelves have been cleared, but the rest are full. Bass glances over the titles, "Mother Earth News", "Car and Driver" and "Entertainment Weekly… This guy had quite a wide variety of tastes." He says, amused.

"I'll say he did." Charlie is blushing. In her hands she's holding a red wooden box.

"What's in there?" he asks curiously.

"Um, I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing you'd call them bedroom tools."

"Bedroom tools?" he looks confused, and walks over to open the box. Looking in he laughs. "Sex toys Charlie. They call them sex toys."

"Well, it seems like Verne had a bit of a 'sex toy' collection." Charlie is a little embarrassed, but also very curious.

Bass moves closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Maybe we can try some of them out later?" he whispers against her ear. "What do you think?"

"I know I'm new to this, but that doesn't sound very hygienic Bass."

He laughs loudly, "We won't use all of them. I can't imagine there will be any hygiene issues with the silk scarves or the hand cuffs or this…" he picks up one of the items and shows it to her.

Charlie's stomach clenches and she feels a throbbing need in her core. "Yeah, maybe we can use that." She smiles. Bass leans in for a kiss.

"I missed you today. It was good to talk to Miles, but I missed you."

"Well," Charlie says against his lips, "I'm here now."

**Author's Note: First of all, I'm sorry for the long delay. This has been the single most difficult chapter I've written. I painted myself into a corner in earlier chapters by making Rachel soooo very crazy. I don't like Rachel (Pretty sure this is no secret) but it was important to me to be fair to her character in the show and not make her actions in this story totally unbelievable. That's where I then really ran into trouble. My earliest drafts of this chapter made Rachel far too empathetic, and made Bass & Miles out to be truly evil guys. So I rewrote it and rewrote it and finally came up with this. I hope it works. There will be one more chapter of this story. I'll have to see how that goes to know for sure, but my guess is it will be the last one. The chapter you've just read was very heavy on the Miles/Bass/Rachel relationships and background. Sorry about the lack of charloe smut. I shall make it up to you in the next chap here, as well as the final real chap of Brush Strokes which you'll see early next week (hopefully).**

**A huge thank you to IceonFire7 for helping me tone down the back story so none of us would hate Bass ourselves…. And to Priya for giving her insight as well. Please let me know what you think. I love to hear from you guys. **

**Oh, and if you think you know what's coming next… you don't. haha**


	8. Chapter 8

The Willoughby jail is a small brick building with the almost cliché look of an old-time television sheriff's station. As Connor books her into the jail – writing all the details of her arrest in an actual book with a stubby pencil – Rachel takes in her surroundings. Connor wouldn't remember Andy Griffith, but Rachel does, and she can't help but make the comparison. Watching Connor closely, she wonders if he's more of a Sheriff Andy or a Deputy Barney Fife? Maybe he's a combination of the two...

Rachel is calm and collected. Connor, on the other hand, seems nervous.

"I'm not the first person you've ever arrested, am I Constable?" she mocks him with a little smirk.

"Well, no." he is flustered. The truth is Rachel Matheson intimidates him – she always has. "You are the first I've arrested for attempted murder. Usually this is a pretty quiet town."

Rachel senses his unease, "Is it the charges that make you feel uncomfortable, or is it me specifically?" she asks.

He looks up from his task, taking in the curly blond hair and the cold blue eyes. Rachel Matheson is beautiful and he wonders for just a moment if maybe she's flirting with him. No. Surely not. Connor shakes his head as if to clear it. "I'm not uncomfortable, just busy." He answers before looking back at his book.

Rachel hides a small smile. "Sorry, my mistake."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Several hours later, Rachel is sitting on the bunk in her cell. She is reading a battered copy of The Count of Monte Cristo. When she'd asked Connor if there was anything to read, he had shoved a stack of books through the bars. It was this one, _The Silence of the Lambs_ or _What to Expect When You're Expecting_. The choice had been obvious, though she marvels at the fact that two of the three choices detail jailbreaks. She's not entirely sure Connor has a clue about this. He doesn't seem like much of a reader to her. No matter. This is a good book, and with nothing better to do she is somewhat immersed in the text when Connor announces that she has a visitor.

"Hi Mom." Charlie's voice is quiet, her expression unreadable.

Rachel stands, sets her book down and walks toward the bars. "Charlie." She says with a strained smile, "I didn't really expect you to visit."

"Neither did I." Charlie frowns, glancing around the jail, "Bass thought that I should come see you."

Rachel feels the familiar stir of hatred in her gut at the sound of his name. "Oh?" she asks, trying to keep her face blank.

"Yeah. He said that he wished he'd had a last minute chance to visit his Mom before – " Charlie breaks off weakly.

"Before she died." Rachel's voice is firm as she finishes Charlie's thought. "You came to see me because of the possibility of my execution?"

Charlie shrugs, clearly uncomfortable. "I just wanted to see you. Is that okay or not?"

Rachel holds up her hands, hoping for a truce. "I'm sorry Charlie. Of course it's okay. I'm glad you came."

There is an awkward silence, and Charlie almost leaves, but finally she blurts out what she'd come to say, "I love him Mom. I know you hate him and probably have a lot of good reasons for feeling that way, but he's changed. He's not the President of the Monroe Republic anymore. He's not the same guy who did those things. He's just Bass and he's a good guy now….a better guy anyway. He's good to me and he makes me happy."

"He's old enough to be your father."

"So what? We don't care."

"You'll care when he's 85 and you're changing his diaper and wiping the drool from his chin."

Charlie feels anger bubbling up from her gut. "Actually, when you love someone you do whatever it takes to make them happy. If Bass needs me to be his nurse someday, I'll do it happily. And you know what? If something happens to me where I'm the one who needs help – I know he'll give it to me."

Rachel snorts, disbelieving.

"I know it's difficult for you to wrap your head around, but Bass and I love each other. Have you ever loved anyone other than your parents and Danny?" She sees Rachel's shocked gasp, but she forges on, "You sure didn't love Dad. That was clear when you left. You didn't love Miles or you wouldn't have tried so hard to kill his best friend. You sure as hell never loved me…"

"That's not fair Charlie. You know I love you."

"Do I?" Charlie shrugs. "Maybe if I hadn't seen the stark difference between how you treated the two of us, but I did see it. You adored Danny and you put up with me." She inhales sharply, "There for a little while after Danny died, I thought maybe you cared. I was wrong."

Rachel is getting upset. Her face is flushed. "Danny was sick. I didn't try to treat him differently. I loved you both the same."

"No. You didn't." Charlie shakes her head sadly, "But that's okay. I came to terms with it a long time ago. I just wanted you to know that I love Bass. I love him as much as you loved Danny… as much as you love Grandpa." She hesitates. "More actually."

"You don't know what you are saying Charlie. You have no idea what he's capable of."

"I didn't know what you were capable of just a couple weeks ago. Yeah, he did some bad stuff, but it was years ago. You tried to kill us last week."

Rachel doesn't say anything right away.

"And," Charlie continues, "If we're still holding people responsible for stuff they did a long time ago – how about starting the damn blackout and killing millions of people? Bass didn't do that Mom. You and Dad did. And you left Nora to die so that you could turn the power back on. Oh! And what happened then? You helped kill even more people – two whole cities wiped off the map. I know you want to blame Bass for everything, but some of this shit is on you."

"That's not fair." Rachel says again, her voice sounds small.

"What's not fair is your selective memory. Did Miles and Bass do bad stuff? Yes they did. Really bad stuff. Nobody is denying it, not even them. They've changed though. They're different guys now. The difference is that you did bad stuff back then and you just keep doing it now. You will never change. You'll do anything if you can justify it to yourself." Charlie turns to leave.

"Charlie, don't go." Rachel begs.

"There's no reason for me to stay. I'm done. We're done." Charlie doesn't look back as she passes Connor on her way out the door.

Rachel sinks into her bunk, suddenly feeling very tired and very alone.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Bass is sitting at his desk in Blanchard's office, pouring over stacks of ledgers. He's finally back to working full days. He still gets the occasional headache, but generally everything is back to normal.

There is a knock on the door of his office and he looks up curiously. An old man is standing in his doorway. He is withered and frail, but his face is friendly. He flashes Bass a smile, and when he does so his poorly fitting false teeth clatter around a bit in his mouth.

Bass smiles at the old man. "May I help you?" he asks, removing his reading glasses and sitting them on his desk.

"I sure hope you can, Son." He slowly walks toward the chair in front of Bass' desk. His gait is labored, but thanks to a wooden cane, he's getting around okay. "My name is Joseph Blanchard. Frank is my nephew. I'm visiting from Austen."

Bass nods as understanding dawns. "Of course. Myrtle said something about an uncle. You're an attorney, right?"

"Yes I am, and I'm very interested in Mrs. Matheson's case. I arrived last night and Myrtle filled me in. I met with Mrs. Matheson at the jail, and I also talked to a…" his voice trails off as he pulls a piece of paper from a jacket pocket, "A Miles Matheson." He reads the name from his paper. "You're next on my list."

"What do you want to know?" Bass asks, leaning back in his chair, arms crossed casually.

"Well, I know she's charged with trying to kill you…"

"Yeah, twice." Bass says with a frown.

"Well, here's the thing." The old man leans forward in his chair, holding Bass' gaze, "I'm hoping you'll testify."

"Of course I will. Like I said, she tried to kill me twice."

"I don't think you understand." Joe Blanchard says with a sigh, "I'm hoping you'll testify on her behalf."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gene is very drunk. Sitting on the front steps of his house, he takes sips from the clear jar he'd bought from Big Ethel that morning. In the hand that isn't holding the jar of – hell, it might be old gasoline for all he knows – he holds an old photo yellowed with age.

The photo is of his beloved wife Charlotte, a twenty-something Rachel and Charlie as a toddler. All three are blond and blue eyed and grinning happily for the camera. He remembers the day it was taken. They'd played Candy Land with Charlie and then had a picnic in the park. If you look closely at the photo, you can see the corner of the picnic basket in the background. After Danny was born the next year, the visits from Rachel became fewer and farther between.

Now, he hardly recognizes the happy and carefree woman in the photo.

"Hi Gene." He hears the voice, but it takes a moment for him to realize it's not in his head.

Slowly he looks up. Myrtle Blanchard is standing at the foot of his front steps, actually two Myrtles are standing there. Gene closes one eye carefully, bringing just one Myrtle into focus. "Hi." He says, his voice quiet.

"How much have you had to drink?" she asks.

"Not sure." He mumbles, "Maybe one hundred and one?"

"One hundred and one drinks or one hundred one proof?"

He thinks for a moment, "The second one."

Myrtle nods, "You need some coffee, " She wrinkles her nose, "and a bath. Let me help you inside."

Gene watches her as she does all she can to get him into a standing position. "You're kind of cute when you wrinkle your nose like that." He says with a loopy grin. "Actually, I always did think you were kind of cute."

Myrtle can't help the little blush that stains her cheeks. "That's enough of that Gene. You are in no shape to be flirting right now."

"Maybe later?" he asks with a drunken slur.

She chuckles and shakes her head with a chuckle, "Maybe later Gene, maybe later."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bass and Miles are sitting across the street from the jail, on an ancient park bench. They are sharing a bottle of whiskey and talking about what's coming next.

Bass motions across the street. "What's the deal with the Rangers? Since when do they stand guard outside a small town jail?"

"Well," Miles answers with a smirk, "Seems that they've heard stories and aren't too convinced she'll stay put. Blanchard has round the clock Ranger guards keeping watch front and back. They'll be there until she's released or, you know…"

"Taken to Austen?"

"Yeah." Miles' expression is grim. "Austen."

"So you agreed to testify for her at trial?" Bass still isn't sure what to think about this.

"Yeah. I did." Miles shrugs, "She's crazier than a fruitcake lately, but at least some of that is on us Bass. We can't just walk away."

"I know. You're right." Bass sighs heavily. He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, watching the jail as if an answer will magically appear. "Shit." He says with a frown.

"You're going to testify for her too, aren't ya?" Miles asks, taking a pull from the bottle.

"Well hell, when have I ever not done whatever stupid ass thing you did first?"

Miles grins, "Good point Brother." He hands the bottle to Bass before standing. "Let's go tell her."

Bass drinks deeply and then follows Miles to his feet and the two friends walk across the street to the jail.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Connor must have warned her that they were coming, because she's waiting for them when they arrive at her cell.

"Miles. Monroe." Her tone is impersonal and detached. The guys glance at each other. So that's how it's going to be.

"Rachel." Miles says, grabbing an old wooden chair and plopping down on it next to the bars. "We come bearing news."

"Oh? What's that?"

"We're both testifying at your trial." Miles says.

"On your behalf." Bass finishes.

"You are?" Connor asks from his desk, shocked.

"Shut up Kid. Don't you have somewhere else to be?" Bass asks his son with a frown. Then he turns to Rachel, "But yeah, we are."

Connor shrugs, embarrassed. "Sorry. Yeah, I need to go down to the school and talk to Aaron." He stands and leaves.

Rachel's demeanor changes instantly. She looks confused and a little lost. "But why?" she asks.

"None of us are perfect." Miles leans back on two legs of the chair.

"We've all fucked up and made mistakes, bad decisions, screwed people over..." Bass slouches against the bars.

Miles sighs, "We know we are at least partially to blame for you going all bat shit crazy. Maybe more than partially."

"Thanks a lot." Rachel says, her voice laced with sarcasm.

"Told you she wouldn't want our help." Bass says.

Rachel holds up a hand. "Stop. That's not what I meant at all. I was just talking about the bat shit comment. Of course I'm thankful that you're willing to testify." She sighs and sits down. "I don't think it will help though. Pretty sure I'm screwed no matter what."

"Yeah, that's what the lawyer thinks too." Bass says.

"Jesus Bass. Have some heart here." Miles scolds him. Turning to Rachel, "Sorry Rach. The lawyer does think it's a long shot, but we've beat bad odds before."

Rachel shakes her head, her expression doubtful, "Yeah, we have a great track record. Between the three of us, there's the blackout, the Monroe Republic, Baltimore, the Tower…"

Bass laughs, "Rachel, think farther back." He smiles at her and it is a friendly smile. "Remember that road trip the three of us went on in what…06? Ben was supposed to go too, but he came down with pneumonia. So we took Miles' old Dodge Dart and drove from Chicago to Omaha and then we were supposed to go to Pierre, South Dakota but Miles got turned all around…"

Miles picks up where Bass left off, "And we found ourselves in Sioux City, Iowa at some tiny hillbilly bar…"

"It was called The Pig Squeal or The Little Piggy… something like that." Rachel is smiling now too as the memory comes back.

"The Pig's Squeal" Bass clarifies with a grin. "I still had my tee shirt from there when the blackout happened. Won it riding that damn mechanical bull."

"Except of course, it wasn't a bull." Miles grins at his friend.

Rachel is actually laughing now, "That's right! It was a giant mechanical pig! Oh God I forgot about that. And the longer you rode it…"

Miles chimes in, "The more it would squeal."

"I rode that pig like it was my bitch!" Bass cries between barks of laughter. "Won free drinks for all of us for the rest of the night."

"Which in hindsight wasn't quite the blessing we'd thought it might be at the time." Rachel chuckles.

"Ah, I don't know." Miles is still laughing, "You were also a winner that night."

"Oh shut up. We aren't talking about that." Rachel says trying to look stern, and failing miserably.

"What?" Bass is trying to remember, "What did you win?"

"Wet tee shirt contest Bass! How do you forget that?" Miles raises his eye brows at Rachel. She shakes her head at him but she's laughing.

"Ah," Bass remembers now, "I was entertaining the two runners up. That's why I didn't remember." He rubs his chin thoughtfully, "Good times. Good times."

"And then when we finally got out of there, that local yokel cop tried to pull us over." Miles sounds indignant.

"Because you were hammered of course." Bass frowns. "I was pissed. Kept yelling at you about my family." His expression is a little somber.

"Sorry Brother. Wasn't thinking." He pauses for a moment. "Also wasn't thinking when I decided to run for it and we led that son of a bitch across six counties before we lost him." He pauses thoughtfully, "That Dart was a great car."

"By the time you lost that cop, it was so late, and I was puking my guts out." Bass recalls. "So we pulled over at some little park by a river and you two slept outside on a blanket. I curled up in the Dart's front seat trying not to die. God I was drunk."

Miles glances at Rachel. Their eyes lock for a moment. "When we woke up the next morning, it was raining…"

"When we woke up the next morning…" Rachel continues, her eyes never leaving Miles', "I was pregnant with Charlie."

The three old friends have a moment. Their silence is filled with shared memories of laughter and joy and pain and heartbreak. They are remembering, if only for a moment, that they weren't always killers and dictators and mad scientists who turned out the lights.

"So," Miles says, "We've faced tough odds before. We always found a way. Not just Sioux City Rachel. There were other times too – tougher times, rougher odds. You know it. Maybe we have to get creative this time with the testifying or whatever," he holds her gaze with intensity, "but whatever we do, we'll find a way."

She pauses for a beat, and then nods carefully, "We didn't always beat the odds. There was that one time you locked me up in a dungeon, knowing our child was out there somewhere…missing her mother."

Miles closes his eyes, "Jesus Rachel. I can't defend my actions. I just can't. When I remember back, I can't even tell you why I did it. I was a mess. " he takes a rough intake of breath, "I used to say Bass dragged me down into the darkness, but I think the truth is we both lived there. We were the two worst possible people in the history of ever to run a damn country. We did so much that we regret, both of us." Bass nods solemnly in agreement. Miles continues, "We're trying to make it up to you as much as we can. I know we'll never be able to fix it, but we are trying here. That's all I can say."

Rachel closes her eyes, and takes a deep shaky breath, "Well thank you. Thank you for testifying. Thank you for reminding me…" she clamps her mouth shut tight. Her lips twitch just a little with the effort not to cry. "Thank you."

Bass can tell that Miles and Rachel need a moment so he nods in her direction, "Bye Rachel," before walking out of the jail.

Miles is frowning. "We had a lot of bad times, but we did have some good times too."

She nods, "Yeah we did."

"I really am sorry that it all fell apart with us. I'm sorry I screwed it all up in my quest for power. I'm sorry for a million fucking things. The deck never was stacked in our favor."

"No. It definitely wasn't." she smiles sadly. "We tried. Just wasn't meant to be, and we both made some big mistakes."

"That's true, but maybe we can start over?" Miles asks.

"What do you mean?" Rachel watches him warily.

"Friends Rach? Can we go back to being friends?" he looks hopeful. "We were actually really good at that at one time."

She nods, wiping a tear that has trailed down one cheek. "Yeah Miles. Friends."

"I have another question for you." Miles inhales slowly, suddenly nervous.

"Yeah Miles?"

"I want to tell her Rachel. She deserves to know the truth."

Rachel shakes her head, "That's a bad idea Miles. A very bad idea."

"No. It's a good idea. The bad idea was lying about it for this long." He runs a hand through his hair, "Damnit Rachel I deserve to have a relationship with my daughter. An honest one."

"I need to think about it Miles." Rachel looks like she'll be sick. "I mean you want an honest relationship with her? Honest? You're going to tell her you knew she was your daughter and yet you locked me up? How exactly do you see that playing out?"

"I don't know. She knows that we locked you up. She seems to have put that behind her. Maybe she'll hate me. Maybe she'll forgive me. I don't know. What I do know is I want her to know how much I love her. I want her to know who I am."

Rachel sits down heavily, rubbing her temples tiredly, "You know she was here. Charlie came to see me this morning. It wasn't good. She thinks I hate her. She thinks I didn't love her the same way I loved Danny."

"Well, you didn't. Everyone knew you loved Danny more. I never could figure that out. You said I was the love of your life, but you treated our kid like a second class citizen."

"No, it wasn't like that." Rachel is adamant.

Miles slams his fists against the bars, and Rachel starts. "Yes it was!"

Rachel shakes her head harshly. "No. It's not true."

"It is true, goddamnit. WHY? Why couldn't you love our daughter?"

"Because she was too much like you!" Rachel barks out, and then claps a hand to her mouth.

"She was just a kid." Miles is baffled.

"From birth she was stubborn and bull headed and always had to have her way. She never needed me. Danny was sweet and kind and always wanted to be close to me. They were just very different. I did love her, but it just wasn't the same." Rachel sits heavily on the bunk. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too. I want to make it up to her. She has the right to know."

"Fine." Rachel sound defeated. "Tell her. Not like I'll be around to see how she takes the news anyway."

Miles frowns, "I'm sorry Rach. I really am. We are going to do whatever we can to help with this trial, okay?"

She nods, but she won't look at him.

"Rachel?"

"Yeah."

"Here." He holds something through the bars.

Rachel stands, feeling a little shaky. She takes the paper he's holding and she looks into his eyes, confused. "What is this Miles?"

He shrugs after making sure she has it in her grasp. "Call it a goodbye, I guess."

And then he turns and leaves. Rachel sags back into her bunk, clutching the folded paper to her chest, crying quietly.

Miles doesn't look back.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So Miles and I visited your Mom today." Bass says around a mouthful of stew. He and Charlie are sitting at the kitchen table in the little Blanchard house which they now call home. Bass had made dinner and they are enjoying a rare evening at home, just the two of them.

Charlie sets her spoon down and looks at him, "Yeah? So did I. Hope your visit went better than mine did."

Bass frowns at the sadness he sees in Charlie's face. "We had a decent chat. Talked about the old days, tried to remind her we used to all be friends once."

"Did it work?"

Bass sighs heavily. "I have no idea. Maybe. She didn't threaten me or tell me she hates me today." He smiles slightly, "So some progress maybe."

Charlie laughs in spite of herself, "Well that's good. She told me I'd be sorry about the age difference when I have to change your diapers." Bass chokes on a spoonful of stew, and his face goes red with the coughing fit that follows. Charlie jumps up and pats him on the back. "You okay?"

"Yeah." He coughs a couple more times, "But she said that?" When Charlie nods, he shakes his head, "Jesus Charlie. Are YOU okay?"

Charlie sits on his lap, placing her palm softly against his stubbly cheek. "I'm fine. You know I've been putting up with your shit for years. Why would it be any different if I'm cleaning it out of your shorts?" she grins at him wickedly.

Bass throws his head back and laughs before pulling her close. "First, I hope that I never ever need your help in that area. Secondly, I love that you aren't letting that comment get to you. The age difference is a big deal." He runs his hand through her hair, and kisses her temple. "Do you want to talk about it? The fact that when I'm eighty and drooling, you'll still be young and – "

"When you are eighty and drooling, I'll still be in love with you. That is what's important here, Bass. So we aren't the same age. Who cares? As long as we're together, nothing else matters."

"I love you Charlie." He angles his face closer, pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

"I love you too." She returns his kiss, tasting and exploring. It starts out slow and sweet but soon intensifies. "Mmmm, you thinking what I'm thinking?" she mutters against his ear.

"I am if you're thinking about going to bed?" he asks with a chuckle.

"Oh." She pouts, "Here I thought we were on the same page."

His eyebrows raise in surprise, "What page is that exactly?"

"The one where the kitchen table works just as well as the bed does." She begins to unbutton her shirt and he grins.

"Yeah, I like that page too." Then he's moving into her space, helping with buttons. Their mouths are joined. Bass seeks out her heat with his tongue. She bites at his lips. Teeth clash as their hands grow clumsy with need. Articles of clothing are flying and soon they are blissfully naked. Bass slides his hands under her ass and hoists her onto the table. He moves into her embrace, his erection pressing hotly against her belly. Bass is sucking lightly at her throat. Charlie moves against him, urging him to get started but he just laughs. "No Charlie. Not gonna rush it. Feel like taking my time tonight."

Bass sinks to his knees and spreads her legs. He bites teasingly at her inner thigh, working his way to her hot center. "I love the way you smell." He whispers, his breath teasing her flesh. Bass uses his thumbs to flower her folds open. He starts at the base of her slit, licking slowly up the creamy crease. Charlie moans as he sucks her clit for a moment before pulling away just enough to say, "I love the way you taste." He moves lower again, pushing his tongue into her opening, slowly fucking her with it. Now and then he alternates; covering her pussy with his mouth, sucking her sweetness until she cries out. Charlie comes in a flurry of shaking thighs and quivering insides; her fingers digging into his scalp. Her climax is intense and he can feel her body shaking and pulsing all around him. He smiles against her swollen sex. "I love the way you come for me." He starts licking her clit again with the flat of his tongue, but everything is too sensitive so soon after, and she pulls him up.

"Please." She begs as he positions himself at her entrance. Their eyes hold and he slowly fills her, stretching her, completing her, possessing her as only he can. Charlie whimpers at the feel of his cock as he thrusts slow and steady, never taking his eyes off hers. Bass feels his own need building. He knows he won't be able to hold on much longer. They are kissing and as the tempo of their coupling increases, so does the intensity of the kiss. Charlie's hands go to his back and she runs her fingertips along his spine as he thrusts harder, more urgently.

"Charlie." He moans and he tries to pull from her, but she locks her legs around him tightly.

"No Bass. Stay." Her whispered words are like heaven to his ears and he pushes one last time and empties himself into her heat. They are panting, holding on to each other, reveling in the perfection of the moment.

"Mmmmm." She purrs against his ear.

His arms still around her shoulders and his dick still buried in her sheath, but he leans back just a fraction to look down into her face.

"We've been doing that a lot lately. Probably time we really talked about it." He says, his voice quiet.

"Talk about what?" she asks tiredly, running her fingers lightly up and down his amrs.

"Well, the fact that if we keep this up, pregnancy is inevitable." He frowns. "Is that what you want?"

Charlie rests her head on his chest, "I want a family Bass. I want to have a baby."

Bass feels his heartbeat quicken; "You want to have a baby?" his tone is reverent and also a little hopeful.

"Well, not just any baby." She says and he can hear the smile in her voice. "I want your baby or you know, your babies."

"This is good to know." He teases her, his hands sliding down her back in a caress. "Cause I want your babies too."

"Yeah?"

"Oh yeah."

"Well," she says with a mock frown, "We should probably work on that a lot, what with you being so old and all. Just because everything worked at one time, doesn't mean it works now."

"Ouch!" he cries out with a chuckle, "That's low, but hey," Bass bites lightly on her ear, "If you say we need to work on it, then we need to work on it."

Bass disengages and lifts her into his arms.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking you to bed, woman. We both need our sleep." He carries her to their room and lays her down carefully. Her eyes are already droopy when Bass crawls in next to her. He watches her as she drifts off, thinking of their future and all the promise it holds.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Connor gets to the jail to start his shift, the night is already heavy with darkness, though a bright moon hangs low casting the town in an eerie light. He says hello to the Ranger at the door, and gets the daily report from Nicholls before his deputy leaves to spend the night with his wife and children. The Willoughby constables rarely work at night, so these days with Rachel as prisoner have run everyone a little ragged.

Connor goes to his desk, shrugs out of his jacket and looks around. Nicholls is a neat freak and the place has had a good cleaning today. There are two new reports on the desk: a break in and a domestic disturbance. It looks like both issues are ready to file as closed.

The moonlight fills the small office and the jail cell with a soft glow. Connor looks in at his prisoner and sighs. "How are you Rachel?"

"Well, I've been better." She says with a hint of a smile.

He chuckles tiredly. "I hate this." He says, shaking his head.

"You hate what?"

"I hate that you don't see how happy they are together. I hate that you thought hurting either of them might be the answer."

"I never wanted to hurt Charlie." Rachel says firmly, moving closer to the bars.

"Killing the man she loves would have hurt her." he says it slowly as if speaking to a child. "They are crazy about each other. Why isn't that okay with you? Why don't you want her to be happy?"

"There's a lot of history that you don't know Connor."

"Like what? You and my Dad? Yeah, I know."

"Oh." She says simply.

"It was when he kept you in Philly, right?"

She doesn't answer for a long time. Finally she does. "Yes."

Connor stands and walks closer to the bars of the cell. He watches her eyes sparkle in the moonlight. She is so beautiful, but he shakes that thought free. No time for stupid crushes now. "So you're mad at him because what? He came onto you? Sounds like you were…" Connor's eyes move up and down her body. He doesn't mean for it to happen, but suddenly it's like he can't help himself. "Willing."

"I'm not really mad about that." Her voice seems softer, and Connor takes another step closer. He tells himself it's because he's trying to hear her better. "There was a lot of other stuff. It wasn't all Bass. Miles did his share too. They weren't good to me Connor." Her hands are on the bars now, mere inches from his own.

"Are you and Miles still together?" he isn't sure why he even asks, but he does.

"No." she tilts her head a little. "We decided we're better off as friends."

"Can't ever have too many friends." His voice has gone very quiet. His brain is starting to send some very inappropriate signals to sensitive parts of his body. Connor shifts uncomfortably, and from the glint in her eye, he knows that she knows.

"You know what I want Connor?" Rachel asks with a crooked smile.

Connor just shakes his head.

"Well," she says as her hand slowly moves, her fingers now resting against his, "I want to feel like a woman just one more time before they kill me. I want to feel a man inside me one last time before my trial. After that, it's all over. Once they say I'm guilty, they'll take me straight to the gallows." She looks at him pleadingly. "Do you think you could help me with what I want?"

Connor lets out a shaky breath. Part of his brain says this is some kind of trick. But the bigger part of his brain – the part that is losing a lot of blood as it travels south, reminds him that Texas Rangers are guarding the doors so she's not going anywhere. "That seems like a bad idea Rachel."

"Are you absolutely sure?" she takes a step back then, and slowly begins to unbutton her shirt. As the fabric falls open and the swell of her full breasts comes into view, Connor knows this is a battle he won't win.

"Maybe I'm not _absolutely_ sure." He says, his voice almost a whisper. Connor watches as she shrugs the shirt to the floor, then he reaches for the keys on his belt before opening the cell and going to her as the door clangs shut behind him. Their lips meet in a tentative kiss. She can feel the tension in his shoulders and she wraps her arms around his neck. "The bunk." She whispers softly.

He nods and they make their way to the narrow bed. They are kissing again, sitting almost against the wall. "I need to apologize Connor." She says softly.

"Apologize for what?" he asks absently as he reaches up to stroke her collar bone with a fingertip.

"For this." She says with a sigh before grasping the side of his head and slamming it into the brick wall. Connor crumples, unconscious to the bunk.

Rachel doesn't waste any time. She retrieves his keys and unlocks the cell. Then she puts her shirt back on. She locates the revolver and some ammo that she'd watched Nicholls put away earlier and heads for the rear door of the jail. Rachel glances over at Connor one last time. Definitely a Barney Fife type she supposes, but he is still a fairly sweet kid. Rachel hopes he'll be okay, but doesn't waste any more time thinking about him before she quietly cracks open the door and steps into the darkness.

She stops cold when she hears a gun cock right in front of her.

From the shadows emerges a Texas Ranger in full uniform. His face is in shadow, but Rachel can clearly see the shotgun pointed at her gut. "Shit." She says with a growl. "Shit."

"Calm down Ma'am." The Ranger says. "We mean you no harm."

Rachel's shock is clear even in the muted moonlight. "Miles?"

**Author's Note: Chapter 8 was supposed to be the end, but that isn't gonna happen. Chap 9 will be the final installment and it is written so I'll post it in the next few days. There's also a short little epilogue that is ready to publish as well. This story has really been a challenge for me, but a fun one. A huge GIGANTIC thank you goes to IceonFire7 for talking me down from the cliff on this one. I had a VERY different ending written for this, and she gave me some feedback that steered me in a new and I think much better direction (certainly better for a few of the characters in the story). So, stay tuned for chap 9 and leave a comment here if you have a minute. I'd love to hear what you think! **


	9. Chapter 9

Miles flips his hat up with the flick of a finger, revealing the familiar snarky grin. "We're here to break you out Rachel, just like I told you in the note I left."

Rachel frowns, "Your note said to distract Connor and you would deal with the Rangers."

"Which we did..." Bass comes around the corner of the jail. He is also wearing the recognizable tan uniform of the Texas Rangers.

Rachel looks from one to the other, taking in their childlike grins. "You two are…"

"Amazing?" Miles asks with a chuckle.

"Devastatingly handsome?" Bass asks.

"Infuriating, but helpful." Rachel says begrudgingly.

"You know," Bass says, leaning nonchalantly against the side of the jail, "A thank you would be nice."

"Don't hold your breath Monroe." Rachel says before starting down the stairs, "Let's go."

"Not so fast." Bass says, holding up a hand. "We gotta make sure this looks good for Connor. Gotta make it look like he was overrun and couldn't stop your escape. No offense but I'm not breaking you out of jail just so my son can get thrown in."

Rachel suddenly looks uncomfortable. She won't meet Bass' eyes.

"What did you do Rachel?" Miles asks.

Bass doesn't wait for an answer, rushing inside. They can hear him from where they still stand on the little porch, "You have got to be kidding me!"

Moments later, all three are standing beside the bunk in the cell staring at a very unconscious Constable Connor Bennet.

"Is he allright?" Bass asks, feeling his throat for a pulse.

"He's fine. I just knocked him out. He'll have a headache. That's all."

"Seriously, Rachel?" Miles asks. "I said distract him, not try to kill him."

Rachel just shrugs. "I got caught up in the moment."

"Bass, drag him out to the desk area, would you? Rachel and I will make it look like there was a scuffle out here and we'll bring him out to wake up in the middle of it."

Rachel turns to Miles. "What about the Rangers? The real ones?"

"They're taking a long nap out back." Miles smiles, "Never saw us coming."

Within fifteen minutes, the stage is set at the jail and Miles, Bass and Rachel are getting ready to say goodbye. The guys have prepared a wagon full of supplies and hitched it to fresh horses.

Miles hands her a pouch full of coins and small diamonds, "Stay off the main roads. Change your name frequently. Keep a low profile. Move around a lot for at least the first year. Maybe settle in the western Plains or the Wastelands. Whatever you do…" he trails off.

"Whatever I do, don't come back to Texas. Right?" Rachel asks. She's trying to stay strong but it's difficult.

Bass walks up then, his expression very serious. "You know Rachel, this is your one and only 'get out of jail' free card. You tried to kill me. You almost killed Charlie. I'm not saying that I wasn't responsible for a lot of bad shit in the past, but this has got to end. It's over. I don't care what Texas will or won't do to you. If you get a pardon from God himself, you do not come back. Do you understand?"

Rachel squares her shoulders, and looks him in the eye. Even after all the fence mending that they've attempted these last couple days, she still hates him. It doesn't matter. She knows he's right. This is over. "You really think you're in love with her, don't you?"

"I don't just think it. I know it. I love her with all my damn heart. We want to start a family. We're probably going to get married. There is nothing I won't do to ensure her happiness, and if that means killing you; I will. Don't ever come back here. Don't ever try to come between us again." This isn't friendly Bass reminiscing about Sioux City. This is General Sebastian Monroe and he is not playing around.

Rachel feels a shiver crawl up her spine, but she nods. "I won't come back. I hate that you are with her, but I won't come back. She's a grown up. I can't keep trying to fix everything for her."

Bass looks at her for a minute, and then nods curtly before turning and walking away. Miles moves to stand in front of her.

"Would you give this to Charlie?" Rachel holds a letter out to Miles. "Maybe when you tell her, about…"

Miles nods, "I'll give it to her."

"Thank you. I really do love her in my own way, you know?"

Miles sighs, and nods. "I know."

They don't say goodbye with words, but their eyes hold for a long moment before she flicks the reigns and rides off into the moonlit night.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Charlie wakes feeling rested and happy. She stretches and then snuggles into Bass' warmth. "Good morning." She says when she can tell for sure he's awake.

"Good morning." Bass smiles tiredly. She notes dark circles are under his eyes and he looks exhausted.

"Are you okay?" she's concerned. "Did you sleep at all?"

"Yeah, I slept some. Just had a lot on my mind."

Charlie scrunches up her face in worry. "Is it about what we talked about, because if you aren't ready…"

"No. That's not it at all." He kisses her temple and pulls her closer. "I'm ready. Just planning this little surprise thing for you, and I'm worried about the details..."

"Surprise thing for me?" Now Charlie's worry is replaced with curiosity and excitement.

"Yeah, but don't do that thing where you ask me a million questions, because I'm not spilling any details."

"Hmmm, okay. When do I get my surprise?"

"Meet me at Big Ethyl's tonight at 7. We both need to work today, but tonight we're going to have some fun. Okay?"

"Okay." She says with an excited grin. She leans in to give him a kiss. He has just started kissing her back when they hear a knock at the door.

"Who the hell could that be?" Bass asks with a scowl.

She is the first to get to the door and is surprised to see Connor there. "What's going on?" she asks, suddenly nervous. His expression makes her tense.

"It's your Mom Charlie. She escaped." He looks regretful and very sorry. "Just be careful okay? We don't know where she is, but we're looking for her. You'll both have Rangers on you until we find her."

Charlie nods numbly before shutting the door. When she turns, she sees Bass and can tell he heard Connor's news as well. He opens his arms to her and she goes to him, not sure of anything but that she is so glad he's here.

He strokes her hair, "It's all going to be all right Charlie. Everything is going to be all right."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Charlie arrives at Big Ethyl's at exactly 7pm. She is a little surprised to see that the place is empty. There are a few candles lit along the bar, but she sees no other evidence of anyone being around.

"Bass? Ethyl? Where is everybody?" She calls out.

Charlie almost jumps out of her skin when she feels hands on her shoulders. She relaxes when she realizes Bass is standing behind her. "Surprise." He whispers softly into her ear.

As if on cue, people begin to appear. Miles and Gene stand up from behind the bar. Priscilla and Connor pop up from behind a table. Myrtle and Frank Blanchard come out of the back room. Big Ethyl comes out of the kitchen and Aaron crawls awkwardly out from under a table. He looks a little rumpled, but proudly holds up a sign that says "Happy Birthday Charlie".

Charlie is confused. "What's going on Bass? It's not my birthday."

"I know. I remember your birthday…vividly." He grins at her, "It was the first time we started hanging out." He squeezes her shoulder and she feels her heart lurch. Damn she loves this man.

"So, I don't understand. Why are you having a birthday party for me months after my actual birthday?"

"I want your birthday to be a happy occasion for the rest of your life, and selfishly I didn't want to wait a whole year to start making that happen." He shrugs.

"Okay." She's laughing, but stops when she sees what Ethyl has carried out from the kitchen. When Charlie sees what it is she squeals in delight. "A birthday cake!" she cries, clapping her hands.

"Not just any birthday cake either." Ethyl says, "Bass insisted it had to be a 'Hello Kitty' cake. Took us a long time to remember what the hell Hello Kitty looked like. Hope this works."

Hello Kitty looks a little lopsided and her ears look strangely like antlers, but Charlie is so touched by the gesture that she has tears in her eyes. "Thanks Ethyl. Thanks Bass. It's beautiful. I haven't had cake forever. I can't wait to try some."

"Cake can wait!" Aaron calls out. "We want you to open your presents." He's grinning like a little kid. Everyone is caught up in the fun of the evening ahead.

"Presents? That seems like too much guys. I don't need anything, and like I said…not actually my birthday."

"Yeah you do." Miles pipes up from the back. We all know how sad you were when you lost your house, and Bass said what was even sadder was that you told him you didn't have any keepsakes or anything. You lost everything, but nothing was personal. He wants us to help him fix that, so he gave us all an assignment."

"An assignment?" she asks, confused.

Priscilla smiles, "It was actually pretty sweet Charlie. He asked each of us to come up with something thoughtful that you could keep. We each had to come up with something special just for you."

"Way to go Monroe." Aaron grumbles jokingly. "Make the rest of us guys look like schmucks."

Bass shrugs with a grin, "Didn't really take much to do that Pittman."

"That's enough!" Charlie laughs. "Bring me my presents already." Though she'd been hesitant at first, Charlie is now fully embracing the idea of this bonus birthday.

Big Ethyl starts. Her gift for Charlie is a vase made from a whiskey bottle. "I cut off the top of the bottle and sanded it down. Left the label on because that's the kind you and Bass always drank when you were still coming in here every night." She sighs, appreciating her own handiwork. "Could have sold this sucker for $50 on Etsy back in the day."

Charlie loves the vase and gives Ethyl a hug.

Connor walks up next. He hands her a leather bound book. "It's a journal. I know it's not real fancy, but Aaron showed me how to make paper and how to bind the book. Basically Aaron made it, but I helped." He shrugs sheepishly. "Thought maybe you could write down your thoughts or whatever." He pauses, shaking his head. "Sorry. It was a dumb idea."

"It's not dumb Connor. I really like it. Thank you." She smiles at Connor. Charlie is glad they are able to be friends.

Charlie's Grandpa gives her a small photograph that he said he'd been carrying around for years. It shows Charlie with Rachel and Grandma Porter. Charlie wraps her Grandpa in a warm hug. "Thank you so much Grandpa."

"I know it's hard with your Mom gone again, but maybe this will work out for the best. At least she stands a chance out on her own."

Charlie nods. "I hope so Grandpa."

Priscilla hands Charlie a small brown bag. Inside is the soft yellow dress she'd loaned Charlie for her 'first date' with Bass.

"Oh, I remember that dress." Bass grins. "Thanks Priscilla."

Charlie laughs, "I'm pretty sure it's for me." Then she turns to Priscilla, "But thank you. It's very sweet. Now I'll have something to wear if Bass ever wants to take me out on a real date." She grins at him, and he can't help but grin back.

Aaron stands up, "I'm next. Remember those drawing classes I've been taking? Well, I made you something." He hands her two framed drawings. Charlie takes one look and bursts into tears. She goes to Aaron and he is crying too as he holds her close. They stand like that for a long time before Charlie goes back to the drawings. One is of Danny. He is laughing and his eyes sparkle. The other is of Ben. He looks wise and kind. Both drawings have so perfectly captured the essence of her long lost loved ones, Charlie feels like she's seeing them again. "I missed their faces. God how I missed their faces." She says lovingly running a fingertip along the frame that surrounds the drawing of Danny. "Aaron, thank you so much." He nods, wiping tears from his cheeks.

Bass is next. "Here." He says, holding out an envelope. "It's probably going to be a big letdown after StayPuft gave you the best gift ever, but I hope you like it." Charlie opens the envelope and pulls out several sheets of paper. Each is covered in Bass' careful handwriting. She glances over the first page and feels a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"This is…?" she stops, looking at him to confirm.

"It's a love letter Charlie." Bass looks embarrassed. "I don't always say the right thing or do the right thing, but I love you and I wanted you to have it in writing." His face cracks into a big grin. "And also you sort of mentioned you wanted one once."

Carefully Charlie tucks the pages back in their envelope. "I'm going to read that later." She walks over to him and kisses him softly. "Or maybe you could read it to me?"

"We'll see." He says, but she knows all she has to do is ask.

"Is it our turn yet?" Frank Blanchard asks the crowd. When nobody objects, he brings a large envelope as well. "Mine is bigger." He says to Bass with a wicked grin, "But I'm afraid it is not a love letter."

"What is it then?" Bass asks, trying to peek over Charlie's shoulder.

Myrtle walks closer, "It's the deed to Verne's old house. We want you to have it free and clear."

"Oh. No guys. That's too much." Charlie is stunned.

"Nah," Frank shrugs. "How many houses do we need? We both have our own places. We don't have kids and neither did Verne. Besides you're already all moved in."

"Thank you." Bass says, his eyes solemn. "I don't know how we'll ever repay you. Thanks for everything you've done for us. Not just this. Everything."

Frank pats Bass on the shoulder. "Well, I wouldn't do that sort of thing for just anyone, but you're a good kid. And I like your lady. The two of you are something special. We're glad to help you out. As for what you can do for us… maybe name your firstborn Frank?" He cackles at the pained expression that crosses Charlie's face. "I'm kidding sweetie" he ruffles her hair and she laughs.

After that, the party kicks into high gear. Everyone eats a slice of Hello Kitty birthday cake and the booze is flowing freely.

Charlie finds Miles sitting at a table in the back, nursing a glass of whiskey. He looks tired. "You okay?" Charlie asks.

He nods and takes another drink. "Yeah Charlie. Just thinking. Happy fake birthday, by the way."

She smiles sadly. "I was a little surprised Miles."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Well, everyone got me a little something. Everyone but you."

He smirks a little, staring into his glass. "In my defense, I brought you flowers on your actual birthday. I remembered all by myself." He smiles, "But don't you worry. I have something for you tonight too, but wanted to give you my gift in private." He looks up at her and she can see uncertainty in his eyes, "Can we go outside?"

"Of course. Let me just tell Bass so he doesn't wonder where I am and worry." Miles nods.

In minutes they are outside. Miles sits down on the front step and pats the space on the step beside him. She sits and he hands her a brown box.

Charlie opens it slowly and giggles when she sees the battered metal lunch box inside. "I love it Miles!" she grins, lifting it carefully from the box.

"I found it for you when I was in Hannibal before I knew anything about this party, but I figured you'd like it. Not exactly like your old one. This is from _The Empire Strikes back_. That was the movie right before _The Return of the Jedi_, which I think was the one you had before, but you can keep all those sappy love letters from Bass in it, or whatever. I want your life to be full of good memories Charlie. I'm just sorry I haven't been able to give you many."

"Miles." She nudges him to get his attention, "You have given me so much. You taught me to fight and to defend myself. You taught me that family sticks together. You taught me to never give up. And if it weren't for you, I probably would have never met Bass."

"Don't blame me for that shit." He says, but he's grinning. She knows he approves, even if it did take him a little while to come around.

She runs her fingers over the raised designs on the lunch box. "I don't think about the stuff you had before the blackout much, but I do wish I had been able to see these movies." She laughs, "I know that probably sounds dumb, but when Aaron told us the stories I got really into them."

"Aaron told you the stories behind the Star Wars movies?" he's laughing.

"Yeah." She smiles at the fond memory. "He told us a lot of stories from movies. Star Wars was my favorite and Danny's too. We pretended we were Luke and Leia. It was fun."

"I'm really glad you had Aaron and Ben and Maggie. I wish I'd been around during those years. I'm sorry about that Charlie. I'm sorry about a lot tonight I guess."

"Don't be sorry. Everything turned out fine."

They sit in silence for a while. Finally Miles pulls a letter from his pocket. "Charlie this is from your Mom." Charlie takes it gingerly. "She's not coming back Kid." He sighs heavily.

"You helped her escape." Charlie shakes her head. "I should have realized it sooner. You helped her."

"So did I Charlie." Bass is behind them now, emerging from the shadows. Both men are watching her carefully.

"You didn't tell me." She says to Bass, her voice hurt.

"Tellin ya now Charlie. We wanted to give her a chance. Felt we owe her after all we put her through over the years. Sorry she had to sneak out of town without saying goodbye."

Charlie sighs heavily, "It's okay. Looks like I get my goodbye in writing."

"Listen there's something in there that is going to come as a shock…"

"You read my letter?" she frowns at him.

"No. She told me what she wrote. There's something you need to know about me and your Mom."

Bass sits down next to Charlie and wraps his arms around her, holding her close. Without words, he's telling her he's here for her, that he'll always be here for her.

"Your Mom and I…well, we kind of had a thing going a long time ago. It wasn't just after we got to Texas."

Charlie looks at Miles and smiles slyly, "Yeah, I figured that out."

"Oh." Miles looks nervous and runs a hand through his hair. "Well, this thing we had went on for a while, even - you know – while your Mom was married to your – to Ben."

He looks at her then and sees the smile she's trying to hide. "What?" he asks, flustered.

Using her best Darth Vader impression (and admittedly it's actually an impression of Aaron's Darth Vader impression) she says, "Charlie I am your Father."

"What?" Miles and Bass both stare in surprise.

"You knew?" Miles is stunned.

She shrugs, "Well, I probably wouldn't have put it all together but there was this one day when Bass called me 'Mini Miles' and I kind of laughed because a lot of people tell me I'm like you and I thought it was funny. I wouldn't have made the connection at all but later that same day Mom and I were arguing and she was really mad, and she said I was stubborn and arrogant and bull headed just like my Dad."

"And?"

"Well, nobody ever said Ben Matheson was stubborn or bull headed or arrogant. If anything he was too sweet and too willing to give in to every whim my Mom had. He was kind and gentle. That was when I started to wonder. After that I just paid attention. Now and then one of you would make a comment that made me think I was right. It wasn't that anyone ever came out and told me. I just kind of assumed." She shrugs.

"Well hell." Miles says with a frown. "You okay with all of it?"

"Yeah, I am. I love you and I'm glad you're you." She laughs. He'll always be my Dad too though, you know?"

Miles nods. "That's the way it should be. He was there for you for a really long time. I'll always be thankful for that. I know my own role in keeping your Mom from you all those years wasn't small. I was a fucking idiot and a jerk and I don't deserve your forgiveness Charlie. God I don't deserve anything but I hope we can find a way to keep all that stuff behind us and move forward. I want to know you better. I want to be a Dad to you, well as much of one as I can manage anyway. I love you Charlie." His voice is scratchy with unshed tears.

Charlie pulls out of Bass' embrace and hugs Miles tightly. "I don't think there is room in any of our lives for holding grudges. I love you too." He has to choke back tears as he holds his daughter, knowing that she knows and she doesn't hate him. This is his dream come true.

"Now who's being all emotional like a girl? Darth Vader doesn't cry." Bass teases, but Miles notes that his best friend is teary eyed too.

"Don't be a dick Bass." Miles says with a laugh.

Charlie can't help but grin at them both. These two idiots are the most important people in her life, and she can't think of a better way to spend her fake birthday than with them at her side.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The party is wrapping up. Gene finds himself next to Myrtle. They've been talking tonight. Actually they've been talking a lot these last few days. He's not sure what's going on yet, but he knows he likes her company.

Frank brushes past them, "Come on Myrtle. I'll walk you home."

"Hey Frank," Gene says.

"Yeah Doc?"

"Would you mind if I walked Myrtle home tonight?" Gene asks. He's feeling nervous which is odd. He hasn't felt nervous about spending time with a woman in decades. He watches Frank closely and notes when the surprise turns into a genuine smile.

"Of course you can." He grins at them both, "Behave kids. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

They watch Frank walk toward the center of town. "Doesn't he live the other way?" Gene asks.

Myrtle blushes prettily, "I'm guessing he's going to visit a lady friend."

Gene realizes what Myrtle means, and chuckles. "Well, good for Frank."

They walk along quietly for a while. It is a comfortable silence and at some point along the way Gene finds himself reaching for her hand. She takes it without saying a word, moving closer to his side.

As they get to her stoop, Gene pauses. "Myrtle, I – "

"What is it Gene?"

"I'm really rusty at all this, but I was wondering if maybe I could give you a little goodnight kiss?"

"No I don't think so Gene." She says with a frown.

"Oh, I'm so sorry – "he breaks off when her lips find his. The kiss is soft and gentle. When it is over he says, "I don't understand."

"Well," she says with a smile. "I've been wanting to kiss you for forty some years. I kind of wanted to be the one to get things started. Is that too forward of me?"

"No. It's perfectly fine." He chuckles.

"Would you like to come in?" she asks him with a playful smile.

"You aren't trying to proposition me, are you Myrtle Blanchard?"

"Well, not tonight Gene, though that's another thing I've wanted to do for forty some years." Her eyes crinkle with mischief, "Tonight I was just thinking coffee. Do you like coffee?" She laughs and he joins in.

"I do love coffee." He agrees as he wraps an arm around her shoulder and leads her up the steps.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They are both already ready for bed. Charlie is wearing a long tee shirt that brushes against the top of her thighs. Bass has put on some old cotton pajama bottoms. He is lounging on the sofa in their little house, watching Charlie with amusement as she scurries around finding places for all of her new treasures. She hangs the pictures of Danny and her Dad over the fireplace. The whiskey bottle vase goes on the mantle. The dress hangs in the closet. The two letters – one from Bass and one from her mother – go in the lunch box. It and the journal go on her nightstand. She sighs happily when everything is in place.

She walks to him with the big envelope the Blanchards had given her. "Where does this go?" she asks him.

He stands, and puts an arm around her shoulders, "Let's put it in the desk that's in that extra room."

They walk down the hall together and she hesitates at the door. "Now that this is truly our house we can make changes, right? Real ones?" Charlie looks up at Bass expectantly.

"Sure. What changes did you have in mind?"

She motions toward the little room. "Some paint, maybe a crib…"

"Charlie you aren't already pregnant are you?" He sounds shocked.

She laughs and shakes her head no. "I'm just thinking ahead." She says with a grin.

"Ah, well, I do love how you think." He kisses her softly. She tucks the big envelope into a drawer of the desk before they both make their way to their bed. Bass gets in first and pulls the covers back, inviting her to join him. When she's lying next to him, he nuzzles at her throat. "Charlie?"

"Yeah?"

"Wanna think ahead some more?" he asks, his hand sliding down to grip her hip, pulling her close.

Charlie kisses him in response, moving to straddle his middle, feeling the growing erection that waits for her there. She strokes him slowly with the wet heat of her sex and he moans. "You aren't wearing any panties."

"Told you I was thinking ahead." She grins against his mouth. They are kissing again. She lifts just enough so that he can reach down and untie his pajama pants, releasing his need for her. He helps guide her onto him and then she's in motion. It is slow and sweet and when he reaches for her hands, she takes them both. As she slides up and down, sheathing and releasing in a steady rhythm, his eyes lock with hers and he is struck by how lucky he is to have this woman in his life. He feels his body tensing and pulls her closer. She is still moving, but the new angle allows their mouths to meet as well.

"I love you Bass." She breathes against his lips as she feels herself let go, her body clenching him tightly.

He's right there with her, spilling into her center, breathless. "I love you too."

They snuggle into each other, content and happy. Bass kisses her temple and her fingers sift softly through his curls. They are quiet and smiling. Life is so very good.

"Hey Bass?"

"Yeah."

"This was the best birthday ever."

"Just wait till the next one. You won't believe what I have planned."

Charlie closes her eyes, but she's grinning. "Can hardly wait."

**End**

**Author's Note: Ah, the end. You'll see an epilogue later this week. For those of you who are a little mad at me for letting Rachel ride off into the sunset….. if you really want to read the alternate ending I had planned, I'll email the rough draft of it to you. Contact me via PM. **

**Leave a comment if you have the time. I'd love to hear what you think about this story.**


	10. Epilogue

With all the Rachel drama behind them, Bass and Charlie are finding unguarded enjoyment in everyday life. They both still work of course, but they spend as much time together as they possibly can. He still writes her letters and says he has no intention of stopping. She will need another lunch box to store them in soon. Lately she's been writing some for him as well, and he treasures these notes from her more than he'll ever be able to say.

They found a stray puppy a while back. Bass named him Blackout, and they take the ornery little guy on walks every morning and night. They've accumulated a new collection of board games to replace the ones lost in Charlie's house fire. On Sundays, they host a game night, inviting Aaron, Priscilla, Gene, Connor, Miles and whatever girlfriends the single guys have at the moment to join them. Sometimes Big Ethyl or the Blanchards come by too.

Not everything is perfect.

Bass still sometimes leaves laundry lying around on the floor. She still can't cook, although he's trying to teach her. Sometimes Bass and Charlie fight, and when they do, she sometimes throws things. Luckily Bass is quick on his feet and hasn't been hit yet. They follow the rule to never go to bed mad at each other. It's a good rule, especially since bed is Bass's favorite place to make up with her.

Not everything is perfect, but in general - life is very good.

They don't even bother with the Fifty Shades book anymore. They keep Bass's hand written pages all in a little binder by their bed. They have added a lot to his original work over time. Each entry is carefully numbered, and they use the binder on occasion like the sexy little take out menu it has become. It sits next to the red wooden box full of interesting sex toys from Verne's collection. They've added to that as well.

Charlie is thumbing through the binder, "How about number seven again?" She asks him with a little grin.

Bass traces circles across her bare belly, now slightly rounded with pregnancy. The baby is due in spring, and they are very excited to meet their first child. "You sure do like number seven." He teases her.

"Well, you are really very good at it." She leans over to kiss him, almost dropping the binder.

He bites at her lip, "I really like it when you pick number three."

"Oh number three." She sighs, remembering how much fun that one is as well.

Bass grabs the binder from her grasp, "I think it's my turn anyway."

"Okay Bass, What do you pick?"

"I pick number twenty seven." He carefully sets the book down on the floor, staring into Charlie's eyes.

She looks confused. "But there is no twenty-seven. You detailed twenty-six scenarios in this binder. Not twenty-seven."

Bass moves a hand to cup her breast which is tender and slightly swollen due to her fluctuating hormones. The pad of his thumb feathers across the nipple and she moans at his touch. He leans closer and smiles against her lips before speaking, "Twenty-seven is where we do whatever feels right. We don't need an instruction manual Charlie. We never did."

She laughs then, "So if we don't need an instruction manual, why did you write one in the first place?"

He remembers that night when he'd stayed up late carefully writing out some of his favorite fantasies with her in mind. He'd started to feel things for Charlie that were new and intense. He wanted to make her think of him differently as well. He smirks, "I just wanted you to picture me naked Charlie. That's the only reason I wrote all that down for you."

She punches him playfully, "Believe me Bass, I did not need any help in that area. I'd wanted to see you naked ever since I watched you fight without your shirt on in New Vegas. There for quite a while I still wanted to kill you of course, but I also wanted to see you naked…."

"I'm so glad you don't want to kill me anymore, but that you do still want to see me naked." He's chuckling as he begins to nibble the flesh behind her ear.

"So Bass… you said twenty-seven?" she is breathless as she runs her fingers through his curls.

Bass grins at her, "Yeah, twenty-seven."

xxxxxxxxxx

**Author's Note: And that's that. Another one I can mark as 'complete' on my little stories list. Somewhere in the back of my brain, tiny angels are singing the Hallelujah chorus – I swear. This one has been fun, but also a little stressful. Glad to put it behind me. Thanks as always for the reviews, favorites, follows etc.**

**A special thanks to all who asked for, read and commented on my little alternate ending. It won't ever be published, but I sure did enjoy the conversations it initiated with several of you. Thanks for showing an interest. I really appreciated it. A final big thank you to my friend Ice who was my sounding board when the going really got tough for me on this story. Your help was invaluable.**

**So, next up is a multi-chapter story titled Sins of the Father. That one is inspired by the brilliant dvpdvpdvp and I think you can expect to see chapter one within the next few days. Hope to see you there. **


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